Higher Education
by Zombielibrarian
Summary: My first Brick story upon my return to writing. Beth's freshman year at college - a time to learn about the world, find your place in that world, and possibly even find the love of your life. No zombies, huge age difference just in case that bothers you, lots of Brick action. Trying my best to make it a slow burn -if you know me, you know I'm struggling with that. Rick/Beth
1. Chapter 1

I do not own any of the TWD characters.

 **Don't Hurt Him**

Rick was late for his meeting with the university trustees – not officially late, but more so than was comfortable for him. It was freshman move in day and every available parking spot was taken. That had been the first obstacle to slow him down. Rick eventually had to settle on parking off campus, and taking off in a near sprint to get to the dining hall where the back room had been reserved for this meeting.

Incoming freshman and their families were everywhere – toting and hauling worldly possessions in an attempt to get their child settled into their new home for the next several months. Rick shuddered to think that he and Lori would have to attend to this task with Carl in a few short years. That is, if they could tolerate being around each other for an afternoon. Dodging piles of boxes and laundry baskets full of shoes, electronic equipment, and stuffed animals was a second obstacle.

This lunch meeting was a very important one – it was actually an interview. He had been working his way up the administrative ladder at this small private university since he'd graduated from there with a second degree – this time in business administration. He had been employed as the director of campus security but was now up for a vice president's position – vice president of communications to be exact.

The first time Rick had earned a degree, it was in communications. He wasn't able to put that degree to much use though before being called up to go fight in the gulf. Granted, with a three year old son at home and a very needy wife, it wasn't the ideal time to be sent overseas. However, Uncle Sam wasn't really concerned with convenience. By the time he'd gotten back home, a new baby was due to arrive. Not his, by the way. A so called friend had promised to look after Lori and Carl while he was away. Seems he had taken that promise a little too seriously the best Rick could figure. Divorce proceedings were underway even before the dust had been knocked off his boots.

Rick had finally reached the doors of the dining hall – checking his watch to see that he still had five minutes. Next he checked his reflection in the glass door to make sure he wasn't completely sweat stained. This is when he encountered the third and final obstacle of the morning. There was a line of freshman waiting their turn to get their photo id made. That's when he saw her. Time stood still. At that very moment, there was no crowd of people around, no honking of horns as people waited their turn for a place to unload, and no interview as far as he was concerned. Standing at the front of the line was what Rick Grimes believed to be the prettiest woman he'd ever seen. Normally, Rick didn't even pay attention to students. They came, they partied, and they left. But this girl, because really, she was just a girl – freshly out of high school and setting out to grow up, well, this girl had certainly caught his attention.

This girl was now standing in front of the camera. She held the small poster in front of her that identified exactly who she was but would be edited out later when they printed her actual id. Rick looked at the number, quickly committing it to memory. GR17934 – _last name has to start with gr_ he told himself. Rick looked back up only to find that the beautiful girl had disappeared and someone else had taken her spot in front of the camera.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beth looked at the campus map she had hidden in the front of her folder. It was a small campus and she was a bit embarrassed that she still hadn't figured out the location of all of her classes. Beth took one last glance before closing her folder and making the short walk to her last class of the day – an introductory public speaking class. Checking her schedule, in her notes on her phone, Beth verified that she needed to be on the third floor of the building in front of her. Beth opened the heavy double doors leading into the lobby of the building. Some carpentry work going on to the left of the lobby caught Beth's attention. A maintenance guy was hanging what appeared to be a new nameplate on an office door. Vice President of Communications, Rick Grimes.

The maintenance guy dusted off the name plate and then opened the office door. "Mr. Grimes" he hollered into the interior of the office. "Mr. Grimes, come look and see if this suits ya." A dark haired and very handsome man was standing at a desk and looked up at the guy.

"Sure" he said. Upon entering the lobby, he surveyed the work done and slapped the maintenance guy on the back. "Looks great Alan. Thanks man." Rick looked across the lobby to see the girl from move in day waiting for an elevator. Their eyes met and locked for a few seconds. The dinging of the arriving elevator broke the standoff and Rick gave a slight nod of his chin. Beth flashed a shy smile and boarded the elevator. Rick took a deep breathe before returning to unpack some boxes in his new office.

Once in the elevator, Beth tried to regain her composure. She didn't know who in the world Rick Grimes was, but she believed him to quite possibly be the most handsome man she'd ever seen. The doors of the elevator opened, Beth quickly stepped off and made her way to her class. She did her best to not re imagine those crystal blue eyes of his staring into her hers as the instructor went over the syllabus and what would be expected of them over the course of the first semester. The class had participated in a "get to know you" game of sorts and then had broken into small groups to brainstorm possible topics for their first assigned public speaking assignment. Fifty five minutes later, Beth was packing up her things and the other students were filing out of the classroom. Beth checked to make sure she had everything when Vice President Rick Grimes himself walked in to speak to her instructor. Rick caught Beth's eye upon entering and then he spoke quietly with the instructor. With his business apparently completed, Rick made sure to look Beth in the eye one last time before slipping out as quickly as he'd slipped in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick now looked forward to every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Those were the days that Beth Greene had class in his building. He'd learned her name through a little snooping on his part. Well, it was more like a full-fledged senate investigation for a Supreme Court nominee. It was hard not to investigate – it was in his very nature. No one specialized in background checks like Rick Grimes did. Beth Greene, eighteen years old (Christ, she was just three years older than Carl), good Southern Baptist girl (that explains why she chose this college), graduated Valedictorian from her small town high school, parents Hershel and Annette Greene, two older siblings. Also, she was a double major (international/global studies and women's/gender studies) and had joined the Student Government Association club on campus. Beauty and brains Rick concluded.

Rick rubbed at his five o'clock shadow. When had he turned into a stalker? His initial passing fancy had turned into an innocent interest he told himself. That innocent interest had then morphed into and unhealthy obsession. An obsession that he was desperately trying to keep in check. Rick had turned into a dirty old man chasing after a young girl who had no idea that she was being watched on a fairly regular basis. For example, Beth probably had no idea that someone had made note of the fact that she had soup and salad for lunch every Monday. On Tuesdays, chicken and rice. Wednesday meant that she'd probably go for the baked potato bar. Thursday was a simple sandwich and a bag of chips she ate on the way back from her late morning spin class. By the time Friday rolled around, she didn't give a shit and usually went with the least healthy option the cafeteria was offering that day.

Rick should have known though, being that Beth was a very smart girl, that she'd been watching him watching her. She'd noticed that he ate alone every day, usually with a book or a newspaper or his phone. She also noticed that those things were simply props – the upside book was a dead giveaway. Beth knew she was being watched and strangely, she wasn't horrified or concerned. Rather, it gave her a sense of security.

It was a Wednesday. Rick knew this because Beth was doctoring up her potato. He just didn't know how in the world that potato could ever still be remotely warm by the time she got finished working on it. Every Wednesday, she added butter, salt and pepper, bacon bits and then cheese. Then she added more butter. Next, she added some sour cream and then chopped at it with her fork making sure all of the ingredients were evenly distributed before sampling the spud. He always listened for the "mmmmmm" that the first bite elicited out of her every time.

"I'd like to make you go mmmmmm" Rick mumbled to himself. Before he had time to conjure up that fantasy though, some cocky asshole walked up to his girl (because really, at this point, Rick considered Beth to be his) and joined her for lunch. Beth smiled up at the guy and told him that sure he could join her for lunch. Rick didn't hang around after that even though he hadn't even started on his lunch. He stood abruptly, dumped his tray, and stormed out of the dining room.

Beth smiled to herself – the first phase of her plan was now in effect. _You will make a move Rick Grimes or you will move on_ she thought to herself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick had done his best to put Beth Greene out of his mind. He didn't have time to obsess over an eighteen year old girl when his time would be much better spent making an impression in his new position. Rick decided to throw all of his attention and efforts into making a name for himself – his sights were set on becoming the youngest university president on record.

Rick had stopped watching for Beth in the lobby of the communication building, he'd quit eating at the dining hall on such a regular basis, and he'd tried his damndest to quit giving a shit. Yeh, Rick told himself he didn't give a damn.

It wasn't true though, not even a little bit. If anything, it had only gotten worse because now, his obsession had expanded to include the cocky son of a bitch that Beth was spending so much time with. Apparently, the asswipe was an international student – from Brazil or someplace like that, fucking soccer player. Rick hated soccer players – they thought they were God's gift to everyone and that rules and procedures didn't apply to them. Beth and her guy had been spotted at football games, Wednesday morning chapel, and local restaurants. To top it off, Beth was a regular at the soccer matches playing the official role of soccer girlfriend – out there supporting her man through all kinds of inclement weather. The couple had grown pretty close if one were inclined to pay any attention to campus gossip. It made Rick's skin crawl although he told himself he didn't care.

October had rolled around and that meant it was time for Homecoming activities to overtake any and everything else that normally took place on the college's campus. Lori was going to bring Carl to the homecoming football game, stay through the game, and then leave Carl with him for the rest of the weekend. Surely to God Rick could get along with her for the length of a football game. Carl would be Rick's escort to the Homecoming dance. He was actually fairly excited about having Carl and showing him around the campus, hopeful that he might choose this campus as his college home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The parking lot was full as well as the side streets. Lori had texted saying that she was having trouble finding a place to park. Rick told her to drive by the front gate, he'd hop in with her and help her find a hidden spot somewhere along the way. As promised, Rick was able to locate someone's yard that had an empty patch of grass. Rick knocked on the front door and spoke with the elderly lady on the porch. She'd told Rick that of course they could park there and then patted his check for good measure. Lori was still impressed at how Rick could get things done with a gentle touch – she did miss that about him. Everything she encountered nowadays was gruff and demanding – she didn't realize how quickly she'd get tired of the "kick ass and take names" kind of attitude. Somewhere along the way, Lori had realized her mistake but knew that they could never get back what she had thrown away all those years ago.

Carl slipped his backpack on and walked behind his mom and dad back toward the stadium. It was weird seeing them together – an almost rare occurrence.

"How's Judith?" Rick asked Lori kindly. "What is she now? Five?"

Lori smiled at his attempt to make polite conversation. "Seven. "Judith is seven and in the second grade."

"Wow" Rick stated. "And Shane? He doin alright?"

Lori stopped walking and looked at Rick. "He's fine" she answered. "Same ole Shane."

"Mmmm" Rick murmured. They had approached the ticket gate and Lori was reaching for her wallet. Rick took her by the elbow, held up his faculty badge for the attendant to see, and did his finger around their heads as if to say "they're with me". The attendant nodded and smiled at Lori.

"You didn't have to do that Rick" Lori told him.

"Hell, it's one of the few perks" Rick told her. "That and I don't have to cook for myself anymore."

Lori snickered at that. She was absolutely the worst cook on the face of the earth. She knew it, Rick knew it. He'd been the cook when they were a family.

"You do look pretty healthy actually – they feeding you well?" Lori asked.

"Food's actually really good. Hadn't starved yet anyway" he replied. They'd made their way back into the stadium. Rick sat down and Lori made sure that Carl sat in between the two of them before she took her seat. The first half of the game went quickly and then volunteers were quickly setting up for the halftime homecoming festivities. The band began playing the cheesy school song as some poor sap from the broadcasting department introduced all of the homecoming candidates.

 **This years' SGA representative is Elizabeth Annette Greene.**

Rick sucked in a breath. Lori didn't miss it – she never missed a trick.

Carl made some sort of comment about how hot the chick out on the field right now was and Lori looked over at Rick who was still holding his breath and turning blue.

 **Beth is a freshman and is the daughter of Hershel and Annette Greene. Beth is majoring in**

Rick tuned out at that point. Beth looked amazing, as usual, but there she was on the arm of that asshole of a soccer player. He'd walked her down the fifty yard line and then they'd taken their spot to the left side of the fifty, conveniently in Rick and Lori's line of vision. Lori was still looking at her ex-husband who still hadn't taken his eyes from the blonde out on the field.

"A freshman?" Lori questioned. Rick ignored her.

"Dad" Carl tried to get Rick's attention. "Dad?"

Rick snapped out of his trance and noticed that Lori was glaring at him.

"Are all the girls on this campus that effin hot?" Carl asked.

"Watch your mouth son" Rick warned.

Lori scoffed at Rick's tone. "I think she's spoken for already Carl" Lori stated.

Rick cleared his throat and looked back at the field. All of the candidates were out there.

 **This years' homecoming queen is**

After a few seconds of silence

 **Beth Greene!**

The crowd cheered and clapped. Carl threw in some whistles for good measure. Lori clapped politely along with the crowd but never took her eyes off of Rick. Rick kept his eyes on the field where Brazil boy hugged Beth and kissed her cheek after the crown was placed on her head. Rick could feel the red rising up the back of his neck.

Beth's eyes scanned the crowd where she located Rick – and what appeared to be Rick's family. The two made eye contact and just as Rick smiled, he noticed that Beth's smile was slowly dissolving into a frown.

"So, what's the plan from here?" Lori asked. "What do you and Carl have planned?"

"Oh" Rick jumped at Lori's voice. "Well, after the game everyone usually walks downtown for the homecoming parade – then there's a bonfire, and the dance is after that."

"Sounds like a lot of fun" Lori elbowed Carl who semi rolled his eyes.

"Carl, don't be like that" his mom told him. "All these hot college girls are going to be at that dance." Lori stared at Rick. "Should be a really fun time."

Rick tried to play off Lori's last comment. He knew that she knew. He wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of letting her know she was right. Even though she was right. He was a pervert. An old pervert.

"I think I'm going to go ahead and get back on the road" Lori stated. "I'm sure Shane and Judith have torn the house up sufficiently by now. You sure you don't mind driving half way to bring him back?"

"I don't mind at all" Rick told her. "If you need me to drive him all the way, just let me know."

"Kay" Lori said. "Carl, have fun, but not too much fun."

Lori left the stadium but when she found herself out on the sidewalk in front of the athletic complex there were golf carts all over whisking the homecoming candidates somewhere. Lori caught a glimpse of the queen herself in the cart that had just left. Lori was never bashful when she wanted or needed something.

"Excuse me" she approached a young man sitting on an otherwise empty golf cart. "Where are they going?"

"Right now?" he asked.

"Yes, right now" Lori tried to mask her irritation.

"They're going to the president's house to freshen up, have some official photos made with the president and his wife, then they'll be taken downtown to their floats for the parade" he told her, although he wasn't sure why he'd divulged all that information to a complete stranger.

"Oh, in that case, you won't mind giving me a ride to the president's house" Lori said as she climbed onto the golf cart.

"Uh, mam, I don't think I can do that" the young guy admitted.

Lori reached into her billfold and held out a crisp bill. "Fifty bucks says you can" she stated.

"Yes mam" the boy replied and applied pressure to the gas pedal.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Lori arrived at the house she was happy to see that there were plenty of people milling about, so she blended right in. _They'll just think I'm someone's mom_ she told herself trying to keep the panic at bay. Lori slipped into what appeared to be a receiving room – she saw flashes of light and assumed correctly that this is where the "official photo session" was taking place.

There she was - waiting her turn to have her photo made with the president and his wife. _Damn, she's young_ Lori thought. _And beautiful. And she seems sweet._ Rick deserves happiness Lori told herself, leave this alone Lori. Lori turned to leave, but then she heard Beth excuse herself to go "powder her nose". Lori rolled her eyes. Shit, she's even been raised properly. Lori followed her into the restroom.

Beth's eyes flew up from the mirror to see Lori standing behind her. She immediately recognized her as the lady sitting with Rick at the game. Beth tried to swallow and not make it obvious that she was hurt, more than hurt. Why, she had no fucking idea. She and Rick Grimes were nothing – absolutely nothing. Just a little flirting in passing. She should've known the asshole was married – what a fucking creep!

"Beth, right?' Lori spoke first.

"Yes" Beth answered "can I help you?"

"Maybe" Lori said thoughtfully. "You see, I'm Rick's ex-wife."

Oh God thought Beth – an ex-wife. This just keeps getting better and better.

"Oh" Beth finally said.

"I just wanted to see who or what had Rick all undone" Lori stated. "And now, I get it. You are indeed gorgeous, but you're just so" Lori paused and then quickly finished up "soooooooo freakin young. What are you? Nineteen at the most?"

"18" Beth answered.

Lori grimaced. "God."

"Listen" Beth said. "There's really nothing going on – just a little flirting – I don't even think we've spoken."

"Uh huh" Lori said. "Don't hurt him. Please don't. I did and I've regretted it ever since."

Beth opened her mouth to say something else. "Really, Beth. I had him first, but you've got him now. You may not realize it, but he's yours – all yours. Please, he deserves to be happy – he's one of the best." And with that Lori turned and left the small restroom. A few seconds later, the president's wife was at the door.

"Are you okay dear?" she asked a very rattled Beth.

"Yes Mam" Beth answered. "I'm fine – sorry to keep ya'll waiting."

"Oh, that's fine" the lady smiled. "It's your special day."


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own any of the TWD characters.

 **Time in a Bottle**

If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do is to save every day 'til eternity passes away just to spend them with you.

Rick and Carl had walked downtown after the game, watched the parade, and then had an early supper at a little mom and pop diner on the square. Smitty's was known for the best and greasiest hamburgers anywhere around. The milkshakes were pretty awesome too.

It was at the diner where Carl got a close up view of Beth. She and her "friend" came in for a quick bite. Carl couldn't take his eyes off of Beth and Rick was in misery. He told Carl to quit staring but the young boy told his dad that he couldn't help but to stare, and he wondered what his problem was that he wasn't staring.

Beth and her boyfriend (Rick assumed that's what he was) finished their food before Rick had paid for his and Carl's supper. Once the younger couple was gone, Carl turned to his dad and asked, "When are ya gonna start datin again Dad?"

Rick was a little shocked, but quickly regained his composure. "Well, Carl" he began "It's not like I've taken an oath or anything. I've been out on dates."

"Really?" Carl asked. "When?"

Rick began to stutter. "Well, last summer. Yeh, last summer. This lady and I went for dinner and a movie."

"What was her name?" Carl asked.

Again, Rick hesitated. Why on earth was he getting the third degree? Shouldn't he be the one asking these type questions? "Uh, Lynn." Rick paused. "No, Lauren. Leslie. Fuck, I don't know."

"So, you went out with some chick whose name started with an L?" Carl asked. "How many times did ya go out?"

"Just that once?" Rick confessed.

"When's the last time ya been laid?" Carl asked bluntly.

"Carl Richard Grimes!" Rick declared. "I'm not answerin that question."

"That long, huh?" Carl laughed.

 _Yeh, that long_ Rick answered Carl in his head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The dance was being held at the fine arts building on campus. Everyone attended – students, faculty, and any family members of students could attend as well. It was usually a very popular event. Rick and Carl had stopped by the house, a small two bedroom cottage right off campus, to change clothes and spiffy up a bit. Rick had told Carl not to be afraid to ask girls to dance with him. Carl said he should take his own damn advice that he didn't need any help with his game. Rick smirked at his son, because sadly, he was probably correct about that fact.

Rick made the necessary stops at the necessary people to introduce his son. Carl had learned early on in life the proper way to meet new people – firm handshake, look them in the eyes, say something positive. His dad's time in the military and in collegiate settings gave him that experience. Lori and Shane had also been instrumental in making sure that Carl knew what was expected in social situations – Carl had been blessed with three amazing parents.

Carl found some people his age, children of other college employees, to hang with. Rick was relieved that Carl could make friends that easily, but now he kind of felt like a sore thumb just standing around. Thankfully, a professor that taught in the communications building came along and they stood there together – like two sore thumbs. Misery loves company.

At least the music was good. The college had an incredible music department and the homecoming committee had scoured its local resources to form the ultimate dance band. The band was playing tunes from across all decades to keep everyone happy – after all you had teenagers, young adults, and damn near geriatric individuals. Rick felt like he was approaching the latter group entirely too quickly.

And there she was. Beth Greene floated into that event as if she owned the place, and Rick figured that tonight she did. She was wearing some kind of long, flowy thing with these chunky little ankle boot things. That crown was still perched on her head and her escort took her straight to the table set up just for the homecoming court. The night wore on – Rick kept an eye on Carl who had been hitting on some of the younger girls and not doing too damn bad. Hell, Rick thought that if he watched Carl long enough that maybe, just maybe he might pick up a few tricks of his own.

Beth was on the dance floor with Brazilian Boy when an older slow song came on. _Oh my God_ Rick thought, _that's Time in a Bottle_. The Brazilian Boy had some moves, but when it came to slow dancing, well, he was just a little out of his element. At that point in time, Rick didn't know what came over him. He set his drink down, walked directly to where Beth was on the dance floor, and tapped the young man on the shoulder.

"Excuse me" Rick said to the younger guy. "Would it be alright if I cut in?"

Beth's eyes snapped to her "boyfriends" and then she looked at Rick with a glint in her eye. Beth nodded to the young man, he kissed her on the cheek, and then left the building! Rick took Beth into his arms and pulled her close. They moved slowly to the music, Rick knowing just the right way to hold a woman while dancing. Beth molded herself to Rick's body just like she belonged there. Rick felt as if he were floating – he could not believe that he'd finally worked up the nerve to even approach her. By the end of the song, Beth was lowly humming along with the tune.

"Ya know this song?" Rick asked Beth. This was an old song even by Rick's standards. "Time in a Bottle?"

"Jim Croce" Beth told him and smiled.

Rick snorted. "Now how on earth would you even know something like that?"

"I was raised on really good music" Beth told him. The song ended way too soon for Rick's liking. They continued swaying back and forth even though there was a temporary lull in music. Thank God the band decided on another slow song because Rick and Beth were still wrapped up in each other's arms.

Rick pulled back from Beth slightly to look at the girl in his arms. "I'm Rick Grimes" he said.

"Beth Greene" she replied breathlessly.

They finished the slow song and then returned to a corner table, opting to bypass the homecoming court table that was front and center. Rick left Beth temporarily to go get them some fresh beverages, sodas of course since they were at a church affiliated college. He set the cup in front of Beth and looked to her as if asking permission to rejoin her at the table, which she granted immediately with that beautiful smile of hers.

"Did Brazilian Boy have somewhere he needed to be?" Rick asked Beth. At first Beth didn't have any idea who or what Rick was talking about. Then it sank in and she threw her head back in laughter. Her laughter, Rick thought, was intoxicating.

"Probably so – I've taken up enough of his time" Beth laughed. "He and his boyfriend were getting a little outdone with me. I didn't plan on it taking nearly this long to get you to break."

"You're a sneaky one, aren't you?" Rick leaned in towards Beth.

"I've been called worse" Beth teased back.

"I think I want to kiss you" Rick whispered as he stared into Beth's eyes.

"I think I would like that very much" Beth replied.

They both timidly leaned in toward each other, Rick reaching her lips first. He placed one quick peck of a kiss to her lips as if he were testing the waters. He liked what he had sampled – he liked it very much and decided to put a little more effort into the next caress of her lips. That's about the time Carl walked up to the table. He stood there for a few seconds, and then a few seconds more before he decided to clear his throat.

"Oh, hey Carl" Rick said as if he forgotten his son was present at the dance.

"Hey Dad" Carl replied with a goofy look on his face and then he looked to Beth who smiled back at the boy. "Oh, Carl, this is Beth Greene" Rick told his son. "Beth, this is my son – Carl Grimes."

Beth was a little shocked to say the least. She'd spotted the boy in the crowd along with the ex-wife, but actually hearing Rick introduce this boy as his son, well, that certainly put things into perspective. She was officially chasing after a formerly married man and father. _Lord, what were her Momma and Daddy gonna say?_

"It's so nice to meet you Carl" Beth extended her hand. Carl took her hand and shook it gently.

"Nice to meet you too" Carl told Beth. "So, you're a freshman here?"

Beth blushed. "Yes I am."

"Cool" Carl said easily. "Know what you're majoring in yet?"

Beth nodded. "I have a double major actually, international and global studies along with women's and gender studies."

"Ewwwww" Carl said. "Gross."

"Carl" his dad admonished him while Beth laughed. There was that laugh again.

"That's okay Rick – does sound kind of hippie like, doesn't it?" she asked.

"Yeh, like you're working for world peace all on your own or something" Carl teased.

Beth laughed again. "Well, ya never know what a little ole girl from Washington, Georgia can do."

"True, very true" Carl agreed. Carl then looked at his dad. "Hey Dad, ya think it'd be okay if I went to a late movie with Chelsey?"

"Uhm, who's Chelsey?" Rick asked. Could this get any better Rick wondered.

"She's some professor's daughter" Carl explained. "Her Mom and Dad are going to a different movie, but in the same Cineplex - they said they'd drop me at home."

"That sounds like fun Carl" Rick told his son. "Let me go talk to her parents before you leave." Carl rolled his eyes at his dad's need to meet the girl's parents, but he didn't voice any disagreement because he knew that he never really won any kind of standoff with his dad.

Rick looked to Beth. "I'll be right back" he told her. "And then, maybe, we could slip out of here and do something?"

"Yes" Beth answered. "I think I'd like that. Carl, it was really nice to meet you." Beth told the boy as he was trying to make a quick exit.

"You too Beth – congrats on the whole Homecoming Queen thing" Carl said.

Rick smiled at Beth and then followed after his son to see him off on his impromptu date.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beth knew she should've gotten up and attended church services that morning, but being bundled up underneath her fluffy blanket just felt too darn good. She peeked at the alarm clock on the shelf beside her bed – it was already eleven o'clock. Beth absolutely, never slept in that late. Beth's roommate, Amy, entered the room with her robe on and her hair up in a towel.

"Well, hello Queen Sleepy Head" she teased. "Late night?"

Beth smiled all over herself. "Kind of" Beth admitted. "He finally made a move."

"Oh my Goddddddd!" her roommate squealed. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

Beth sat up in the bed and shook her head no. "It was better than I could have ever imagined. We danced, he kissed me, at midnight we were eating pancakes at his place."

"His place?" the girl asked. "Why Beth Greene – you naughty girl."

Beth threw a stuffed frog at the girl. "Oh hush – he was a perfect gentleman and I was the perfect young lady. Everything was very G rated." Amy just stared at Beth as if she didn't believe a word she was saying.

"Okay, PG" Beth laughed. Amy shook her head as if to say no way.

"Well, maybe PG 13" Beth finally admitted. "I met his son."

"What?" Amy asked. "He's got a son?"

Beth looked a little sheepish. "Uhm, yeh. He's like only three years younger than us."

"Oh, Beth" Amy said sounding a little concerned. "Beth, what are you thinking?"

Beth grew quiet. "I also met his ex-wife."

"Oh" Amy said, now she just sounded plain sick. "Oh, Beth."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eventually, Beth knew she had to get out of the bed. Amy had gone to the library for the day, leaving Beth to have the dorm room to herself for studying. Beth figured she would take a quick shower and then hit the books. When she returned from her shower, Beth saw that she had a few texts. It never occurred to her that Rick would text her today – she figured it had taken him three months to even speak to her, it would probably take him another three to make a second contact.

 **Morning.** R

Beth smiled to herself.

 **Morning**. B she texted back.

 **I had an amazing time last night.** R

 **Me too.** B

 **I don't want you to think I'm crazy, but** R

 **Too late** B

 **Very funny. I miss you already.** R

Now Beth was really smiling. **I miss you too.** B

 **I'm leaving in a few to take Carl back to his mom. Supper tonight?** R

 **Love to.** B

 **I'll call you when I get back.** R

 **I'll study while you're gone.** B

Time in a Bottle – Jim Croce


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own any of the TWD characters.

 **You're Killin Me Smalls**

Rick had taken Carl to the half way meeting place, a little roadside steakhouse. It had become the traditional half way point since they'd begun the song and dance routine of joint custody all those years ago. The wait staff knew them after all the years of meeting there and understood Rick and Lori's situation. The three of them ate a late lunch together and discussed plans for the upcoming holiday season. Carl had the ACT to take soon, a football season of his own to deal with, and some other things going on so it would be Thanksgiving before he and Rick saw each other again.

"You're not eating much" Lori stated when she looked at the small appetizer Rick had ordered. "You okay?"

"Yeh, just not real hungry" Rick told her. He wasn't about to admit that he had plans for the night – plans to make Beth one of his world famous homemade pizzas. "So, Carl, when's your last day of classes Thanksgiving week?" Rick asked his son.

"Tuesday" Carl answered. "We get three days plus the weekend now instead of just the two."

"Wow" Rick observed. "That's kinda nice."

Lori hummed in agreement. "Yeh, that's new to the school calendar this year – think they wanted to give students and their families the benefit of some travel time."

"Would it be okay if I came and picked you up Tuesday night then?" Rick asked the boy. "We don't get that much time together. That'd give us a whole extra day." Rick looked to both Carl and Lori. Lori nodded that she was fine with that.

"Sounds good" Carl smiled.

"That brings us to Christmas" Lori continued. "Since you get Thanksgiving this year, that means Shane and I get Christmas. We'll bring Carl to you the day after Christmas for the week. That agreeable?"

"Of course" Rick said "that's our deal."

"Just making sure we're all on the same page here Rick" Lori came back quickly.

"Yep" Rick responded "All on the same page."

The drive back from the half way point was always a sad and lonely one for Rick. The ride seemed to last forever and Rick dreaded returning to an empty house after having had Carl in it, if only for a few days. This time, however, was a little different. There was someone waiting for him. Rick turned the radio up and drove a little faster than he normally would have because he had plans tonight. He really wasn't quite sure of what the actual plans were, but he knew that they included Beth Greene and that's all that mattered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick rolled into the parking lot of the shopping center on two wheels. He needed to pick up a few things for the pizza. Rick went down each necessary aisle at break neck speed as he was excited to just even call Beth to let her know that he was back in town.

Once home, Rick quickly mixed up the dough and put it on top of the stove to let it rise while he walked to Beth's dorm to pick her up. Beth had told him that she could find her way back to his house but he insisted on walking to get her.

"Sweetheart" Rick said "You're not dealing with one of those young whipper snappers – I'm old school."

"I think it's very sweet" Beth told him. Rick could hear the smile in her voice over the phone. "I can't wait to see you."

"I know the feelin" Rick confessed. "I'm gonna kiss you as soon as I see you."

Beth giggled and told him to hurry. And he did. Once she met him out on the sidewalk in front of her building, Rick pulled Beth into an embrace and just held her for what seemed like an hour – it was really only seconds because he had something he wanted to do. When he finally did pull away, it was only so he could follow through on his earlier promise – to kiss her just as soon as he saw her.

"I missed you" Rick said once they had broken apart from each other.

"I tried and tried to study" Beth admitted. They had turned to walk back to Rick's house, hand in hand.

"Yeh?" Rick asked and smiled over at Beth.

"Yeh" she laughed. "I wasn't very successful. Kept thinking 'bout that kiss you'd promised."

"Was it everything ya thought it'd be?" Rick teased and nudged her in the shoulder.

"And then some" Beth admitted. Rick stopped walking to pull her in for another kiss. Beth hummed softly in her throat.

"Kissin you is my new favorite thing" Rick told her as he held her face gently in his hands. Rick brushed his tongue over Beth's lips. She allowed him another passionate kiss.

"What used to be your favorite thing?" Beth wondered aloud.

"Watchin you go to your public speakin class" Rick laughed.

"Stalk much?" Beth asked in mock horror.

Rick looked down to the sidewalk. "I know. It's pretty bad isn't it?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick had no idea what toppings Beth wanted, so he'd bought all kinds of things to put on it. When he'd returned to the house from picking her up from the dorm, they each made their own. Rick loved mushrooms and Beth did too, but she did not like black olives - at all. As a matter of fact, he thought she was going to be sick when he opened the can of the tiny little black circles.

"Really, Rick" she said "I can just pick them off. That's what Maggie makes me do."

"Well, I'm not your mean ole sister Maggie" Rick placed a sweet kiss to Beth's lips. "I'm Rick and I'll do damn near anything for you."

Beth smiled all over herself and then grabbed an extra handful of cheese to sprinkle over her pie. Once the pizzas were in the oven, Rick and Beth went into the living room to get a movie going. That's where Rick learned of Beth's love for James Bond.

"So, who's your favorite Bond?" Beth asked Rick as they settled on the couch, each with their own pizza.

"Probably Connery" Rick told her.

"Figures" Beth quipped "he's a little bit of creep" she teased Rick.

"Alright Smarty" Rick bantered back. "Who's your favorite?"

With absolutely no hesitation she responded "the blond Bond – Daniel Craig. Goddddd. I mean those shoulders" Beth trailed off realizing that she may need to tone it down just a bit.

Rick didn't miss the fact that Beth may have just possibly clenched her legs together, and her cheeks were suddenly very red.

"Ya like ya men blond and buff huh?" Rick acted as if his feelings were beyond hurt.

"Well, I like my real life men dark and handsome, kind hearted, gentle, and considerate" Beth replied. Rick swallowed but didn't say anything. Beth continued, "I like them intelligent, thoughtful, strong in their convictions – I like my men to stand for something, I like a man who doesn't go out lookin for a fight"

Rick stared at Beth as she continued. Beth put her paper plate with the pizza on it on the floor temporarily and got to her knees, then straddled Rick. He was a little shocked – this was the most forward Beth had been. She grabbed his face and pulled him closer so that she could kiss him. "But I like a man that can finish a fight if he has to."

"Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into it" Rick smiled back at Beth, then pressed a sweet peck to her lips again. He took the time to gently wipe a stray bit of pizza sauce from her chin.

"Didn't have to put any thought into it" Beth responded quickly. "A girl knows what a girl wants."

"That so?" Rick questioned.

"Yep" Beth said. "And this girl wants Rick Grimes."

"You've got him" Rick told her. "For as long as you'll have him."

Supper was finished and cleaned up, but they still hadn't really watched much of a movie. However, they did a lot of making out on the couch. Beth had had several boyfriends in high school, but she really was not very experienced in the ways of men and what they may or may not expect. Thankfully, Rick was a complete gentleman the entire evening allowing Beth to lead the way in that department. Rick had sensed on several occasions, once when he'd gotten his hand into her bra and another time when he'd patted her on that pert ass of hers, that she had tensed up a bit.

"Hey" he whispered into her ear. "We don't do anything ya don't wanta do." He had to keep reminding himself that this wasn't Jessie from the registrar's office or Wanda from the public safety department. They'd damn near thrown themselves into Rick's bed the one and only time he took each of them out. He shuddered to think about the desperate need of those two women and then he marveled at the sweet, beautiful being in his arms.

"Yeh" Beth said. "I wanta do everything with you Rick, it's just"

"It's just what" Rick asked and placed a kiss to the crown of her sweet smelling head.

"I'm not real experienced, and I'm just scared I guess" she admitted.

The thought of Beth not being experienced in things of a sexual nature had not even occurred to Rick. Mentally, he kicked himself. _Shit_ he thought to himself, _she is just eighteen years old._

"Beth" Rick asked cautiously.

She looked up at him and Rick thought that there just may be the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey" he said quietly, wiping the moisture away. "None of that – I mean it. We don't do anything you're not ready for. We go slow. We go as slow as we need to go."

Beth nodded and smiled shyly at Rick.

"Kay?" Rick asked her.

"Yeh" Beth told him.

They'd fallen asleep on the couch while watching 50 First Dates. Beth had told him that she really did like this movie stating that Adam Sandler was just the sweetest thing because he never gave up on his true love. Rick looked at his watch, once he got his arm free of the blonde mess of hair and arms and legs wrapped around him.

"Shit" he sighed and rubbed at his stubble. He gently began to shake Beth awake. "Beth, Baby" he shook her gently again. "Beth, hey. It's past midnight – I need to get ya back to the dorm. It's probably already locked up tighter than a drum."

"What?" Beth mumbled. Sleepy Beth was quite the sight. Her hair was tangled, her eye makeup was smeared, and her clothes were wrinkled. And she was beautiful.

"We've got to get ya back to the dorm Baby" Rick laughed at the sight of her. "It's late."

"I'm tired" she whined. "Just leave me on the couch – I'll get up early in the morning."

"I don't know 'bout that Beth" Rick tried to rouse the girl awake some more so that she could make a more sound decision.

"No" Beth demanded and plopped herself back down on the couch.

"Shit" Rick said to no one in particular. "Where's ya phone Beth?" No response. "Beth" a little more forceful this time. "Where's ya phone? I'll text your roommate and let her know that you're okay." _That's all I need is a jittery roommate to call campus police_ Rick mumbled to himself. Beth tossed the phone at him and he began to scroll through her contacts.

"What's your roommate's name?" Rick asked Beth.

"Amy" she mumbled.

Rick found Amy in the contacts and typed out a quick message.

 **Hey – staying with a friend. Be back in the morning early. Didn't want you to worry.**

Within seconds, the phone dinged. Rick looked down to read the incoming message.

 **Rick putting it to you pretty good I guess then – have fun!**

Rick couldn't help but to smile at the thought of "putting it to Beth Greene pretty good", but, alas, that would have to wait. At least until Beth Greene was ready – he'd wait as long as necessary.

"Beth, come on Sweetheart" Rick told her. "Ya can have my bed. I'll sleep in Carl's room." It was - he balanced her in his arms, he tried to quickly pull the covers back on the bed, and then as gently as possible, deposit his Sleeping Beauty on the bed.

He wondered if she would be more comfortable in a t shirt of his. After all, those jeans she had on were pretty tight and that sweater was pretty bulky. It wouldn't hurt anything to get her dressed for a comfortable night's sleep would it? No, of course not.

The first thing he did was to try and slip those jeans off. Thankfully, Beth realized that Rick was attempting to get her ready for bed and she swatted at him so that she could stand. Once, she was upright, Beth shimmied out of her pants and pulled the sweater over her head. Rick stood there like a sixteen year old boy just staring – there was Beth Greene in a matching bra and panty set. Tiniest damn pair of panties he reckoned he'd ever seen – they were pink. And lacy. It figured.

"Here Baby" Rick told her as he handed her a Go Army tshirt.

Beth took it from him but not before removing her bra. She took the tshirt from him and walked towards him.

"Thank you for taking care of me" Beth told him as she walked into his embrace. There they stood – Rick fully clothed and getting harder by the minute and Beth in a pair of pink panties. Rick ran his hands up and down her back and hugged her.

"You're welcome" Rick told her. "Now get that shirt on" and he slapped her ass.

"Will you sleep with me?" Beth asked once she was under the covers.

Rick stood contemplating the question. He really didn't think it was a good idea, not if she wanted to actually sleep.

"Please" Beth asked.

Rick thought for a few more seconds and tried to discretely adjust the current situation in his pants. "Uh, yeh" Rick finally answered. "Let me go take a quick shower."

"Kay" that seemed to satisfy Beth and she turned over in the bed. Rick went to take a very cold shower and take care of an issue before returning to the bed.

"You're killin me girl" he whispered to Beth upon his return to bed. Beth rolled over in the bed and wrapped herself around him. Rick decided to get comfortable. "You're killin me girl" he said as he looked at the ceiling.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own any of the TWD characters.

 **Some Milestones**

Beth told Rick goodbye the next morning and while he was in the shower, she slipped out and walked on back to her dorm. She had always wondered what the "walk of shame" felt like and now she knew. Again, she and Rick had not taken anything too far - yet. No, Rick Grimes was far too much of a gentleman to allow that to happen, but Beth felt as if everyone she saw on her journey back could just tell that she'd not spent the night in her own bed.

By the time she reached her dorm, Rick must have been out of the shower because her phone was ringing. Beth grimaced when she saw his name on the caller id – she knew he would not have wanted her to walk on back by herself, especially since it was still dark out. Pulling open the front door of her building, she also pushed the accept button on the call.

"Hello" she said in her best I haven't done anything at all that I wasn't supposed to do voice.

"Where the hell are you?" Rick blasted from the other end of the line.

"I told ya I was headin on back – I've got a super early class" Beth started to explain.

"I'm very aware of your schedule" Rick continued. "I don't want ya walkin back by yourself."

Beth continued to listen to Rick go on and on about that's not what he was about, he intended to take care of her at all times and that included 5:30 on a Monday morning. She had reached her room and decided to try and get a word in.

"Rick" she said. More ranting.

"Rick" Beth hissed. "It's probably not a good idea for us to be seen together this early in the morning, me wearing yesterday's clothes, being escorted home by university Vice President Rick Grimes."

Silence fell over the line.

"Rick" Beth asked. "Ya still there?"

Rick cleared his throat. "Yeh" he said. "I'm here."

"Listen, my last class is in your building today" Beth started. She heard Rick chuckle. "But, then again, you already knew that. Let's have lunch or something."

Rick sighed heavily into the phone. _What the hell was he doing_ he thought to himself. _What the hell am I doing_ he wondered. "Yeh. Okay. Lunch."

"Kay – I'll see ya later then" Beth tried to sound happy and upbeat.

"Yeh, see ya later" Rick said before tossing the phone onto the bed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick and Beth had driven over to the next county to have supper. Four weeks had passed since the big homecoming game where Rick and Beth had finally been able to connect. They were getting a few more stares on campus, each of them were beginning to hear the whispers behind their backs, and they were trying to be more careful in planning their time together. The little Mexican hotspot thirty miles from campus had become their regular Saturday night date night go to place.

The waiter brought another bowl of salsa and Beth asked for a bowl of queso as well. He nodded that he'd be right back with it. Rick sipped his beer while Beth swirled her straw in the tall red glass that held her soft drink. Rick tried not to think about the fact that he was dating a girl that still wasn't old enough to have a legal drink. Rick's phone buzzed.

"It's Carl" Rick told Beth. "I need to answer."

Beth smiled. "Of course you do" she told him.

"Hey Carl" Rick greeted his son with genuine eagerness. "Pretty good for an old guy" Rick winked at Beth. "How are ya? Everything okay?" Carl didn't usually call on a Saturday evening. Beth could hear Carl telling Rick something – just by what she could hear, it was obvious that Carl was excited.

"Wow" Rick exclaimed. "Are ya kiddin me? That's great!" The waiter had brought the bowl of melted cheesy goodness and Beth was glad that Rick was busy on the phone – maybe she wouldn't have to share too much of it. Rick smiled as the cheese dribbled down her chin.

"Of course I want to be there" Rick told his son. "This Friday? Yes, that's real close to the University – I'll be there." Then Rick began smiling. Carl was still talking. "Yes, Beth is still in the picture." Beth looked across the table – Rick could see that she looked a little apprehensive. "I'll ask her – I bet she will."

Rick talked a few more minutes until Carl was finished sharing everything her thought was worthy to share for the week. The exchanged goodbyes, Rick placed his phone on the table, and looked to Beth.

"Ya gonna share that cheese dip or naw?" Rick teased.

"Mmmmm" Beth mumbled around a cheese soaked chip. "Maybe" she smiled. "Carl okay?"

"He's more than okay" Rick responded. The server brought out their plates and Rick was starving. Neither of them waited to dig in. Rick had ordered his standard steak fajitas and Beth, beef and cheese enchiladas. "The football team has survived another round of playoffs" Rick began.

Beth ate a couple forkfuls of rice. "Really? That's great!"

"It is" Rick agreed. "No one thought they'd make it this far. Their next game is actually here next Friday."

"Oh, Rick" Beth clapped. "That means you'll get to go watch – he'll be so excited."

"Well, sweetheart" Rick smiled and took Beth's hand. "Carl wants you to come too."

Beth was surprised – really, really surprised. She would have been fine just sending Rick to the game. She could stay back on campus and get some studying done because Lord knows she'd neglected her coursework a little bit lately. "He does?" Beth questioned unsurely.

"He does" Rick verified.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Six nights later, Beth found herself in the same booth of the same restaurant but with two additional people. She thought she may be sick all over the place. _How on earth had she let Rick talk her into this?_ She was sitting next to the wall with Rick to her left. Directly across from her, Lori Walsh – directly across from Rick, Shane Walsh. _Dear God!_ Beth thought to herself. _How did it come to this?_

Oh yeh. Beth recalled Rick calling Lori to check and make sure that she was really okay with Rick bringing Beth with him to watch the game. It spiraled out of control quickly. Lori had insisted on meeting the couple before the game for supper. When Lori asked Rick if he knew of any good places to eat Rick's dumbass had offered up his and Beth's "place".

Rick told Beth she had nothing to worry about – nothing at all. Lori was fine with her attending. Shane was an okay guy. She had nothing to worry about. Beth kept hearing Rick's words in her head over and over again. Rick promised he'd stick by her side the entire night. He had not removed his hand from Beth's knee under the table.

When the waiter came to their table he smiled at Beth and Rick. "The usual mis amigos?" he asked. Beth smiled and nodded.

"Yes please" Beth answered. "Two bowls of queso please."

"Yes mam" the server smiled back at the girl.

Shane and Lori then ordered. "Come here often Rick?" Lori asked jokingly as she handed the menu to the server.

Rick looked a little embarrassed. "Yeh" he finally responded. "It's our Saturday night spot."

Shane snorted quietly. "Kinda outta the way idn't it?" he asked. Beth looked at Shane. Then Shane added, "I get it – what, let me see. Campus is the next county over? Thirty mile buffer zone?"

"Something like that" Rick said.

"Yeh" Shane said. "Rick, is she even legal?" Shane stage whispered across the table to Rick – as if no one else could hear his crass remark.

"Stop it Shane" Lori spoke up. "Who the hell are we to judge?"

With a shit eating grin Shane agreed with his wife. "Guess you're right 'bout that."

Lori tried her best to redirect the conversation and was mostly successful. They discussed Beth's majors in school, Carl's college plans, where little Judith was for the evening, and what Lori did for a living. Rick and Shane discussed law enforcement. The both of them had attended college together. Upon graduation, Rick opted to serve oversees in the sandbox while Shane stayed to join the local sheriff's department – and take care of another man's family, apparently.

Beth felt Shane's eyes on her all night long – and she didn't like it at all. He made her feel very uncomfortable. Needless to say, she was very grateful for a change of scenery when it came time to leave the restaurant and head over to the football stadium. In the truck on the way to the game, Beth was simply shaking all over.

"Baby" Rick looked over to her. "Ya okay? Want me to turn the heat up?"

"That's probably the worst thing I've ever had to endure" Beth responded in all seriousness.

"Lori's not so bad" Rick told Beth. "I thought she was pretty mellow tonight. She wasn't mean to you when I went to the restroom was she?"

"It's not Lori I'm tore up over" Beth confessed. "That husband of hers is a creep!"

"Oh" Rick said as if Beth were stating the obvious. "Yeh, he is."

Carl's team just couldn't pull off the win this time. Everyone was disappointed and the parents hung around on the field waiting to speak with their sons before they left out on the team bus. Lori and Shane spoke with Carl on the field just as soon as the coach got finished with his "we'll get em next year" speech, and then bid him goodbye.

"We'll pick ya up at the high school buddy" Shane told him as he slapped Carl on the back. "Text us when ya hit the county line."

"Kay Shane" Carl told his stepdad.

That left just Rick and Beth on the field with Carl and they were waiting on them to load the bus. "Carl, sorry 'bout the loss" Beth told him. "I thought you played really well though – thanks for inviting me."

"Thanks for coming Beth" Carl told her. She could see that he'd had a few tears because his freckled cheeks were a bit stained.

"I'm gonna go wait in the truck for ya Rick" Beth told him. "Take your time."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

And now it was Rick's turn to be uncomfortable – very, fucking uncomfortable. He was standing, Carl in tow, on the front porch of Hershel Greene's front porch waiting for someone to answer the door. Yes, Beth had talked him into coming for Thanksgiving dinner – to meet the family. The family. All of them. _How had it come to this?_

As Rick stood there and took in the agrarian scene – the frost covered fields, the steamy puffs of air coming from the cattle's nostrils, the sound of a tractor in the distance – he had beads of sweat forming across his forehead. Rick felt himself begin to wobble and he began to lose his grip on the bottle of apple cider he'd brought. He must have really started swaying because Carl gripped his arm.

"Dad" he said "Dude, get a grip. What's the worst that could happen?"

 _Let's see Carl Rick thought_ to himself. _What's the worst that could happen?_ The possibilities flashed before Rick's eyes, but before he could respond he heard the front door opening. In front of him stood a lovely lady, little bitty lady – a lady that looked like an only **slightly** older version of his Beth.

"Well, hello" she smiled at the two men on the front porch. "Ya must be Rick" she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into house, patting him constantly. Rick handed her the cider as a type of peace offering he hoped. She looked back to Carl. "And, you've gotta be Carl – you're just as handsome as your daddy."

"Yes mam" Carl responded. Rick wasn't sure why he hadn't been able to say anything yet.

"I'm Annette" the lady said as she forced them to come further into the house. "I'm Beth's Momma."

Rick finally pulled himself together and put his hand out to shake Annette's hand. "It's so nice to meet you Mrs. Greene. I'm Rick Grimes. Thank you for having Carl and I join ya'll for Thanksgiving."

"Oh, none of that" Annette playfully slapped his hand away and pulled him into a hug. "And, it's Annette – I'm really not that much older" and then she stopped talking abruptly. "Well, just call me Annette."

The three of them heard a buzzer go off in the kitchen. "Oh, that's my dressin" Annette announced. "You two go on in the livin room" she pointed them in the correct direction "Hershel's out feedin – he'll be in pretty soon."

Carl and Rick wandered into a very comfortable room where the TV was tuned into the Macy's parade – the volume was turned down quite a bit. It was a large room with lots of sitting spots to choose from – two sofas, numerous arm chairs, and a couple of recliners. Family pictures lined an entire wall. Rick figured that in the beginning they had attempted an arrangement of sorts, but must have given up as the entire wall was now covered in frames.

Carl made himself comfortable enough that he grabbed the remote to turn up the sound just a bit – there was some kind of pop star singing and shaking all over the float in the parade. Carl didn't want to miss that apparently. Rick continued to stand and look at all the pictures – it was just as Beth had told him, she was the baby of the family. _Yep, the baby. Of the family. The baby of the family._ Rick thought he felt the room start spinning.

There were the standard naked baby pictures on display, to the bruised legs, missing front teeth, and pigtails pictures. He found her prom picture and was instantly jealous. _Hell_ he thought to himself. _That was just last May probably. God, she's beautiful. Who's that fucker with his hands on her waist?_

Rick heard the creaking of steps. He turned around to see Beth Greene standing at the bottom the steps and she was headed his way. Rick didn't allow her to make it into the living room though – he crossed the room in two quick steps to meet her. Rick pulled her into an embrace as if they'd been separated for the longest time. In reality, it had only been two nights.

"I missed you" he whispered.

"I missed you" she said.

"Carl" Beth's momma called from the kitchen. "Would you like a snack? It's gonna be a while 'fore we eat."

Carl jumped up and ran towards the kitchen. "Yes mam" he answered. "I'm always ready for a snack."

Beth looked at Rick and they both laughed at the same time. "Ya'll find the place okay?" Beth asked.

"Yep" Rick answered. "Come here" he growled quietly and then pulled her into a kiss. Of course, she willingly allowed him that sweet kiss. "I wanta talk to ya 'bout this naked picture ya got up in here in the livin room."

Beth looked mortified. "Oh God Rick" she laughed. "How embarrassin!"

"That's alright Baby" Rick whispered. "I've already seen some of it."

Beth blushed even more. "I'd like to see the rest of it" he elbowed her. They were walking to join Carl in the kitchen – he kind of wanted a snack too.

"Play your cards right this weekend" Beth teased "and I'll see what I can do about that." It was Rick's turn to blush now.

"Beth" Annette fussed at her daughter. "Stop whatever you're doin – you're embarrassin our guest."

Rick and Beth exchanged glances and now they were both blushing.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own any of the TWD characters.

 **That Damn Horse**

When Rick entered the kitchen Carl was already seated at the table. In front of the boy was a plate of bacon, sausage, a biscuit with gravy all over the top of it, a side bowl of grits – a pat of butter melting away. _What the hell_ Rick thought. _That ain't a snack._

"Carl Hon, how ya want your eggs?" Annette called from the kitchen area of the big room. "Rick, how 'bout you? What kind of eggs and how many?"

Carl was stirring chocolate powder into a big tall glass of milk and just smiling all over himself. "Scrambled please" Carl hollered out. Well, at least Carl's made himself at home. Rick looked to Beth in confusion.

"Rick?" Annette asked again. "Eggs or no?"

Beth elbowed Rick. "Might as well eat – she won't leave ya alone unless ya do – and we won't eat our Thanksgiving meal until Maggie, Glen, and Shawn Michael get here. And, well, that could be no telling when."

"Three – scrambled please" Rick finally said. He made his way over to sit down with Carl and Beth brought Rick a cup of coffee – and the sugar bowl because she'd already learned that the man required a lot of sugar in his coffee.

"Momma" Beth said "I think I just want some grits."

"Alright Baby Girl" Annette told her as she was bringing the skillet of eggs over to the table to split between Rick and Carl. "You can get those yourself."

Annette sat down at the table with a biscuit and some jelly while Beth doctored up her grits. Rick watched in amazement – apparently she spent as much time on her grits as she did her Wednesday baked potato. Rick watched Beth add butter, stir – stir – stir until melted. Next, she added sugar, quite a bit – stir, stir, stir. He would never allow her to make fun of his sugar habit ever again. And, finally, she added one more pat of butter just because she liked to have a melted puddle of it floating on top of her grits.

 _I bet she goes mmmmmm when she takes that first bite_ Rick said to himself.

Beth took the first little scoop of her grits. "Mmmmm" she hummed. Rick's dick twitched. "Mmmmm, Momma – grits are good."

"Everything's good Ms. Annette" Rick told her. "Hope ya didn't cook all this for us – we usually get by on cereal. Don't we Carl?"

Carl couldn't respond at the moment – he was fully invested in the biscuit and gravy at the time.

"Oh, I fix a big breakfast every mornin" Annette laughed "whether we got company comin or not. By the time Hersh gets back in from mornin chores, he's starved."

As if summoned by his wife's words, Rick heard the back door open and a lot of bumbling and stomping around.

"Hershel Greene" Annette hollered down the hallway. "Ya better be sure and knock the cow shit off those boots – ain't moppin floors today." Beth didn't blink or respond in any way to her mother hollering at her daddy. Carl, on the other hand, found it to be hilarious. Rick was starting to see where Beth got her fire from.

"Yes Dear" Hershel mumbled.

"Wash up – your breakfast is ready" Annette kept barking out orders at the man. "Put some pep in your step now. Rick and Carl are already here – Rick's gonna eat up all the bacon." A look of panic overtook Rick's face. Annette winked at him.

"Woman" Hershel continued his mouthing as well. "If I get in there and there's no bacon left". Beth was now giggling under her breath. This is one of the things she loved most about her parents – their back and forth banter.

Hershel Greene finally entered the kitchen and to say that Rick was shocked would be an understatement. Beth had told him that her Dad was a bit older than her Momma. Goodness knows they had discussed the whole age thing over and over until they were blue in the face. Rick was certain that her parents were going to take issue with his and Beth's age difference. Now, though, Beth's lack of concern over the whole age gap thing made sense now. Hershel Greene appeared to be much older than his wife – the man was completely gray. His gait was that of a much older man also – Rick detected a bit of limp.

Rick stood when Hershel made his way to the table – he looked to Carl and silently told him "stand your ass up" which Carl did immediately.

"Mr. Greene" Rick stepped from his spot and extended his hand to the older, much older man. "Rick Grimes."

"Rick" Hershel shook his hand. "Nice to meet ya sir – and this must be Carl" Hershel extended his hand to Carl. And again, thankfully, Carl knew how to play this game.

"Hello Mr. Greene" Carl told him. "I'm already loving it here." Carl held up a piece of bacon and waggled it in the air.

Hershel let out a belly laugh and told the boy he understood completely. Hershel then pulled out the chair at the head of the table and sat down. Like clockwork, a plate was placed in front of him followed by a side bowl of grits, a cup of coffee, and a glass of the cider Rick had brought. Hershel looked up lovingly at his wife and smiled.

"Sure glad ya didn't give that boy all my bacon" Hershel teased her.

"I'd never give all your bacon away" Annette teased back and kissed the end of Hershel's nose. "Now eat up. I ain't got all day to do dishes and wait on your ass."

Hershel gave her his standard response "Yes Dear."

The breakfast conversation was easy and relaxed. Both Hershel and Annette were sure to include everyone in the line of questioning – not just Rick, but Beth and Carl as well. For some reason, Rick felt like everything was going a little too smoothly.

When the breakfast plates were mostly empty, Annette stood to start clearing the table. Rick stood to help her with some things.

"You sit down Rick" she told him. "I got this – just gonna load the dishwasher real quick."

"Bethie" Hershel said to his daughter. "Why don't ya take Carl out to see the horses – maybe ya'll could take a ride or something?" Everyone in the room could tell that it wasn't a suggestion, or a request. No, it was an order.

"Yes sir" Beth replied. "Come on Carl – let's grab a jacket. Ever ridden before?"

Carl shook his head no, that he hadn't. "Nuh uh" he said. "Always wanted to."

"Well, today's your luck day" Beth told him.

Rick wasn't felling so lucky right now – he knew what this was. The real interrogation – that's what this was. Get the innocent parties out of the way, get the pervert cornered and alone, and fire away. Carl and Beth were laughing on the way out the door, both completely oblivious to what was getting ready to befall Rick Grimes at the hands of Hershel and Annette Greene.

"More coffee Rick" Annette asked Rick as she stared him straight in the eye.

"Yes please" he answered as he hoped and prayed that huge breakfast he'd just scarfed down stayed down. _Pretty sure they were fattening me up 'fore the kill_ he thought to himself.

Annette freshened up Hershel's cup, her own cup and then she sat down at the table as well.

"Rick" Hershel started. "Tell us 'bout yourself – how'd ya end up at the University?"

Rick shared with Beth's parents his college education upon returning from his time oversees. They shared with him their loss of their only son over in the Gulf. They wanted to know how he came to be divorced. "We don't need specifics son" Hershel had told him "but you do understand our concern."

Of course Rick understood their concern. Rick told them how upon his return from serving his country, his wife was pregnant with his best friend's baby. He didn't really have to go much further than that.

"Oh, Rick" Annette sympathized "That must have been horrible. I'm so sorry."

"Water under the bridge Ms. Annette" Rick said sadly.

"Rick" Hershel tried to get control of the inquisition again. "Just how serious is this relationship you have goin with my daughter?"

"Well, Sir" Rick shifted in his seat. "We've been datin for close to two months now. We're takin things real slow, but I'd like to think that she's as crazy 'bout me as I am for her."

Annette smiled and took a sip of her coffee. Hershel made no response except a nose made deep down in his gut. Rick couldn't quit talking at that point.

"I think your daughter is the most amazin creature in the whole world" Rick said. "She's the first thing I think of in the mornin and the last on my mind 'fore I close my eyes at night."

Another smile from Annette and more like a grunt from Hershel.

"I can't go for very long without talkin to or seein her" Rick continued "or else I get all fidgety and ill as a hornet." Rick laughed. "My secretary says she can tell when I hadn't seen Beth in a few hours cause I become quite difficult as she puts it."

"Are ya sleepin with my daughter?" Hershel asked.

"Hershel Greene" Annette stated. "That's none of your business!"

"Sure as hell is Nette" he told his wife. "It sure as hell is. Answer the question boy" he told Rick.

"It sure as hell is not your business" Annette snapped. "It sure as hell is not. Do NOT answer that question Rick."

"Sir" Rick looked back to Hershel. He could understand where this man was coming from – this was his baby after all. "We are not havin sexual relations – our relationship has not advanced to that quite yet."

"I appreciate your honesty Rick" Hershel told the younger man. "Just want ya to know, if ya hurt my daughter, I'll kill ya. Won't think twice 'bout it. Plenty of sinkholes on this farm – nobody even know where to start lookin."

"That's enough Hershel" Annette announced as she stood. "No one's gonna be killin anybody – I believe that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard come outta your mouth." Annette took all the coffee cups to the sink and starting filling it with warm, soapy water – all the while muttering under her breath.

"Jesus Christ, Hershel Greene" she talked to herself. "The man's a veteran – and you're threatenin his life. You oughtta be ashamed is what ya oughta be."

"I can hear you women" Hershel told her.

"Well good" she said. "It's good ya still got your hearin Hershel." She turned to look at her husband with her hands on her hips. "You hear this. I hope ya got all that outta your system – cause they'll be no more of it. Not this weekend anyway."

Hershel simply sent a grunt her way and threw up his arms as if he was done with the conversation. Annette returned to rinsing her few cups and saucers and talking to herself. Rick stood to look out the back door of the kitchen. He saw Carl and Beth walking toward the barn with one horse behind them. Carl was carrying Beth and there was only one horse. _What the hell?_ Rick thought. Rick scrambled to get the door open and out of the house. He yelled back towards Annette.

"Something's happened to Beth" Rick shouted back towards the house. Rick took off running to meet Carl. Back in the house, Annette had rushed to the door that Rick had left standing wide open to see what in the world he was going on about. That's when she saw Rick running like the devil himself was after him. He'd reached Carl and was taking Beth from his son – they were making the trek back to the house.

"Hershel" Annette yelled upstairs. "Get down here – I think Beth's hurt."

"What?" he screamed back.

"I said get your ass down here. Beth's hurt" Annette hollered.

Rick carried Beth into the living room to place Beth onto one of the sofas. Annette and Hershel both joined them.

"What happened Carl?" Rick asked his son. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't really know. We'd ridden around the back of the farm – Beth's a great riding teacher by the way. There's a pond back there – full of fish Beth said. Can we come back and go fishing when it warms up?"

Rick gave his son the hurry up with the story motion.

"Oh, yeh. Anyway" Carl continued "we were on our way back 'cause Beth said that surely by then her momma and daddy were finished raking you over the coals by that time."

Rick chuckled to himself. If they only knew. Annette slapped Hershel in the stomach and he frowned.

"Something must have spooked Beth's horse 'cause it raired up on its back legs" Carl detailed. "I guess Beth wasn't expecting it cause she fell off the back of the horse and hit her head. Pretty sure she hit it on a rock."

"Momma" Beth said. "Momma"

"What Darlin" Annette responded to her daughter.

"I'm hungry" the girl said. "We gonna eat breakfast?" Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

"Beth, Baby" Rick pulled her face to him so he could look in her eyes. "We ate breakfast right before ya went for your ride – ya had grits, remember."

"Oh, yeh" Beth smiled.

"Doodle Bug" Hershel said. "I think we oughta take ya to the ER and get everything checked out."

"Nuhuh" Beth crossed her arms. "I ain't goin to the ER on Thanksgiving – got other stuff to do."

Rick ran his hand to the back of her head where he felt a warm sticky substance. He pulled his fingers back to look at them where his suspicions were confirmed, she had a pretty nasty cut back there.

"Annette" Rick said. "Mind getting me a washcloth or a towel or something." Annette was off and back in a flash with the requested item. Rick folded the towel and placed it to the back of her head making sure to apply pressure.

"Beth" Hershel thought he's try again. "Honey, ya probably gonna need stitches. Ya want me or your momma to take ya?"

"Neither one of ya" Beth told them. "Cause I ain't goin." Carl snorted. He thought Beth was great the first day he met her, but crazy head injury Beth was hysterical.

Annette looked at Hershel. "Elizabeth" her mother said.

"Beth" Rick spoke quietly. "How 'bout I run ya out to the ER, get ya checked out, let em look at the cut on the back of your head. We'll be back here before ya know it – for sure before your sister gets here."

"Can I have breakfast first?" Beth asked.

Carl couldn't hold back the laughter at that point. "Beth, ya had grits for breakfast." He was still laughing which caused Beth to giggle.

"Oh" she said. "Well, I'm hungry."


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own any of the TWD characters.

 **Who Wants Ice Cream**

When Rick had to use a second towel to absorb the blood still flowing from Beth's noggin, he made a bold statement. "I'm takin Beth to the ER. Hershel, Annette, ya'll are welcome to ride along or not, but I'm leaving right now."

"Rick, can we stop and get something to eat?" Beth asked.

Rick smiled and looked down at the floor. He also elbowed Carl to stop snickering out loud. "If you behave at the ER, and do everything the doctor tells you to, then we will stop for ice cream on the way home."

Hershel wanted to tell Rick that he didn't know what a smart individual he must be to realize that Beth Greene and a trip to the emergency really could only equal one thing. Trouble. Beth, by far, had been the most accident prone of their three kids and she was always the child that usually had to end up in a doctor's office, the emergency room, or an urgent care. And, more times than not, it turned out to be some kind of circus side show. Maggie used to go along just for the sheer entertainment value.

"Carl and I'll stay here and wait on Maggie, Glen, and the baby" Hershel said. "Annette, you oughtta go with Rick so ya can fill out the paperwork – don't imagine Beth'll be much use for that today.

Beth decided to pipe up when she heard her name. "Momma, I got a head ache" she said.

Annette was stewing over something. "Now, Hershel, I've got that country ham in the oven – it should be good for at least another three hours. Just don't do a thing to it. As a matter of fact – ya just stay outta the kitchen." As an afterthought she added, "and don't let Maggie in there either for God's sake."

"Alright, alright woman" Hershel told her. "Don't worry 'bout the ham."

"If I'm not back by four o'clock though, ya can carve that turkey breast for me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Rick" Beth said from across the examination room.

Rick and Annette had decided that it would be best not to engage in conversation with Beth right now. She'd already caused a little bit of a disturbance in the waiting room when she's insisted on a booth instead of a table. The nurse super expressed them straight back to an exam room. Rick was pacing the floor while Annette was still wrapped up in paperwork. She had her phone out as well checking an insurance policy number.

"Rick" Beth said again. Rick was fighting a grin, but still didn't say anything.

"Momma" Beth said. Annette didn't have quite the fortitude Rick Grimes did though.

"What Beth?" Annette asked, clearly frazzled.

"Are my brains leaking out the back of my head?" Beth asked in all seriousness.

"Good Lord Beth" Annette exclaimed. "What kind of question is that?"

Unfazed by Annette's nervousness, Beth continued. "I feel my brains running down the back of my neck."

Rick walked over to the bed where Beth was sitting and sure enough, the cut was bleeding again. The flow was enough that it had started to trickle down the back of her neck. Rick got some paper toweling and held it to her head for a bit, before stepping out into the hall. A few seconds later, Annette nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Rick barking at the ER staff. Upon his return to the room, he appeared calm, cool, and collected. Annette just stared at him for a split second before looking over the forms one last time so that she could submit them.

"Everything alright?" Annette whispered to Rick.

"They'll be right in" Rick smiled at Annette as he got more paper toweling to apply pressure to the back of Beth's sweet head.

"Momma" Beth said. Beth was starting to get a little agitated and was trying to wriggle out of Rick's grasp, but he only held the toweling a little tighter to her head.

"Sit still" he told her. Beth shot him a look. "Ya want ice cream?"

"Yes Beth" Annette answered her daughter.

"Under medications" Beth started, "did you write down birth control pills?"

Annette gasped and looked to Rick who looked just as flabbergasted as Annette did.

"Well, no Dear" her mother replied. "I didn't because I didn't know that you took birth control."

"Yep" Beth answered. "I sure do."

"Would you like me to write that down?" Annette asked with a crazy grin on her face. Rick just wanted the floor to open beneath him and swallow him alive.

"Yep" Beth said. "Wanna know why I take them?"

"Not really" Annette answered.

"Well, I'm gonna tell ya" Beth stated.

"I thought ya might" her mom deadpanned.

"Amy said that I should get on them so that when Rick and I finally do it" then she looked straight at Rick and pulled his hand away from the back of her head. "And, we're gonna do it" then she looked back to her mom "that I won't have to worry 'bout an **unwanted pregnancy**." Beth did the air quotes thing although it was a very uncoordinated effort – looked more like a crazy cowboy firing a pistol into the air than air quotations. The shot they'd given her for the headache was starting to kick in.

"I'm not sure who this Amy girl is, but kudos to her I suppose" Annette said. She and Rick were fighting the urge to bust out in laughter.

"Yeh" Beth mused. "Kudos to Amy. I can't wait till I put em to the test."

"Oh God, Beth" Annette "Now hush that up."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back out on the farm, Hershel and Carl had settled in for a long winter's nap. They each had a recliner and Hershel was flipping channels. The shows they'd settled on switching back and forth between were some kind of sappy Holiday Hallmark movie and an old Lone Ranger episode.

"Carl" Hershel pointed to the screen at Tonto. "Boy, those were the days weren't they?"

"Yeh, I reckon" Carl answered. Each guy had a bag of chips in their lap and an iced down soft drink on the table between them. If Annette knew that they were filling up on junk, she'd be furious. But she wasn't there, so neither guy appeared to be concerned.

There was a honk in the drive way. Hershel put his chair down. "Oooo, bet that's Mag Pie and her crew. Come on Carl – it'll take the both of us to get em in the house."

"How many of em is there?" Carl asked. Mr. Hershel talked like it was a truck load or something.

"Oh, just Glen and Maggie and a two year old" Hershel laughed. "But, hell, they pack enough you'd think they's movin cross country instead of just visiting for two or three days."

Carl actually remembered what it was like to have to load up and go somewhere with a very small child. It hadn't really been all that long since Judith was that age. He followed Hershel out to the driveway where he was met by a tall brunette – she didn't look a thing like Beth. She was pretty in her own way, but they absolutely did not look anything alike. Already lifting things out of the back of the SUV was a young Asian guy – kind of yuppy looking.

The sister was fussing about in the backseat wrestling a chubby toddler out of a car seat. The child was already raising hell and stuffed animals were being catapulted out of the back seat onto the gravel driveway. Carl ran to start gathering up the toys.

"Oh thanks" Maggie smiled at him. She reached out her hand to him. "You must be Rick" she said. "I'm Maggie, Beth's sister. Annette told me that she was bringing her boyfriend."

"Uhhhhh" was the only response Carl had.

"Heard ya have a son" Maggie kept right on talking. By this time Glen had come around from the back of the car to introduce himself.

"Hey Rick" Glen said. "I'm Glen – Maggie's husband. It's good to meet the guy that finally won our Beth's heart."

"Maybe your son can keep our son entertained" Maggie just kept right on talking and Carl didn't know how to fix this situation.

Luckily, Hershel decided he'd step in to try and fix the situation.

"Actually" Hershel cleared his throat and took Shawn Michael from Maggie, peppering the young boy with raspberries to his neck. "This is Carl – Rick's son."

Glen and Maggie both stopped in their tracks. "You're the son?" Maggie finally managed to ask. "How old are you?"

"I'm fixin to turn sixteen" Carl answered.

Maggie and Glen looked at each other and then at Hershel. "My God, how old is your dad?" Maggie blurted out.

"I believe he's thirty-eight" Carl answered.

"Jesus" Maggie said under her breathe.

Once inside the house and everyone was settled, Glen finally asked the next most obvious question. "Hershel, where is everyone?"

Hershel just smiled and laughed quietly. "Well, Beth had a little accident and Rick and Annette had to make a trip to the ER with her."

Maggie immediately burst into laughter. "Classic" she snorted. "Well, that's one way to test a man out – if he survives this trip, he's a keeper for sure."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Now, Beth" Rick looked at Beth in the rear view mirror. Why was he speaking to her as if she were a child? Oh yeh, because the girl was completely out of her mind right now. Between, the mild concussion, an injection for her headache, and the injection to numb her scalp when they stitched the back of her head up – she was a little bit more than loopy.

"Beth" Rick said again. Beth looked at him with her glazed over eyes.

"Yes Rick" she said sweetly.

"I'm gonna get some ice cream while I'm in here" he said. "But, you've got to stay in the car with your mom and behave."

"Of course" she said.

Rick rolled his eyes – he didn't believe her for a minute and judging by the smirk on Annette's face, neither did she.

"Should I lock ya'll in?" Rick jokingly asked, but then he didn't and just went on in to the store.

Rick was grateful that they had a selection of frozen food items. There was probably not going to be a lot of places open on Thanksgiving Day to purchase ice cream from. He knew she loved chocolate, so the chocolate covered cherry seemed to be a safe choice. He grabbed a few other treats that he had already learned that she liked too, quickly throwing them into shopping cart. Rick then headed back to the pharmacy counter where hopefully, her meds had already been called in. That's when he heard the clerk at the front of the store.

"Mam" she said. No response.

"Mam" the clerk said again – still polite, but a little louder this time.

"Mam, get out of the front of the door" she laughed. "You're causin the door to open close, open close, open close."

Then Rick heard the giggle. "I know" Beth said. "It's so funny."

An out of breathe Annette was heard next. "Elizabeth Annette Greene, you get back in this car right now young lady."

Rick quickly got the meds and paid for everything in the pharmacy. He grabbed the bags and dashed for the front of the store where Annette was still trying to wrangle her daughter back to the car. Beth was now trying to jimmy the ice box lock out on the sidewalk saying they never had enough ice.

"Beth" Rick called to her from where he was getting into the car. She was still yanking on the door of the Chilly Willy freezer. "Got ya an ice cream sandwich" Rick said.

That's all it took. Beth returned the car, got into the back seat and buckled up.

They were half way home before Annette finally spoke. Beth had actually finished hers and had conked out in the backseat if the snoring was any indication.

"Ya know" she said "Maggie and Shawn sure gave us a run for our money when they were growin up."

Rick looked over to the lady and smiled. "Yeh?" he wanted her to continue.

"If one of them wasn't in trouble the other was" Annette mused. "And I mean trouble. Underage drinkin, smokin and sellin pot, sleepin around – we never had to worry 'bout our little Beth doing any of that."

"She is a sweet thing" Rick agreed.

"But" Annette grinned. "But, when she's sick or injured, all bets are off the table – that girl's libel to do anything."

"I don't believe I've ever heard a more accurate statement in my life Ms. Annette" Rick stated.

XXXXXXXXXX

Maggie held the door as Rick hauled Beth into the house. She was completely passed out with melted ice cream and chocolate wafer smeared all over her face.

"Good Lord" Maggie laughed. "What happened to her?"

Annette just rolled her eyes and went immediately to the oven to check her ham. "I can have the meal on the table within the next hour" she shouted out. That got Hershel out of his chair and on his feet to the kitchen. He figured he'd go ahead and get that turkey sliced like he was already supposed to have done.

"Ya know your sister" Annette told Maggie. "She doesn't handle medication well. She'll damn near say anything. Then she got away from me at the Wal Green's while Rick was in there trying to get her medicine filled."

Annette heard Maggie laughing. "Not only did she get out of the car, she managed to grab the keys out of the ignition and lock me in the car. Took me a few seconds to realize what she'd done and to get myself outta the car."

Glen was laughing now as he peeked in the fridge. Annette didn't even fuss at him for grabbing some cheese. Shawn Michael toddled in from the living room, obviously having just woken up. Annette scooped the boy up.

"Come here Baby Boy and give Nanna some suga" she cooed at the little one. "Then, she stood in front of the automatic doors just watching them open and shut, open and shut, open and shut like some kind of simpleton."

"Sorry I missed it" Maggie confessed. Honestly, she really was sorry about it – she loved to watch "medicated Beth." "I'm gonna go up and check on her."

Annette knew what she was really going up for. "Be nice" Annette shouted out to her stepdaughter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Maggie stood outside Beth's bedroom door. She could see the light coming from her sister's bathroom and she could hear the water running. Peeking in the door, she saw Rick with a warm wash cloth. He sat on the edge of the bed next to Beth and wiped her face clean.

"Rick" Beth mumbled out.

"What Baby?" he said and brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"Thank you for takin care of me today" she said. "I'm sorry I ruined your Thanksgiving." Beth was crying now.

"Hey, ya didn't ruin anybody's Thanksgiving" he told her. "Stop that cryin – ain't nothin to cry about."

"You're so good to me" Beth said.

"That's 'cause I love ya Beth" Rick confessed. "I never thought I could love anything or anybody so quick and so much, but I do."

"I love you too Rick" she said. Rick got on his knees and then placed a sweet kiss on her lips.

"Beth" he said.

"Hmmmmm" she asked.

"You get some rest" Rick told her. "I'll bring ya some supper when it's ready."

"Kay" she said with a yawn. "Love you!"

Rick walked to the door, but before exiting he said, "Love you too Girl. Love you too."

Rick stepped into the hall and there was Maggie. He hadn't met Maggie, but he knew, this entity was Maggie.

"Well" Maggie said. "Hello. You must be Rick."

"You must be Maggie" he offered his hand. Maggie took it and shook it firmly. "Yes I am."

Maggie looked him up and down. Rick looked here up and down. "Welcome to the family" she said. "I'd say you've been fully initiated."


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own any of the TWD characters.

 **Rick's Just a Good Guy**

Just as Annette had promised, the Thanksgiving meal was table ready within that same hour. Rick felt bad about Beth missing the family dinner, but everyone assured him that she was much better off getting some rest and deep down he knew that it was true.

The conversation was easy going at the holiday table. Maggie and Glen were a lot of fun and very interesting. Glen owned a chain of pizza restaurants that did very well, especially in college towns. He and Rick discussed the pizza delivery market in the area of his and Beth's college. Maggie was an administrative assistant for Michonne Anthony, a high powered attorney in Atlanta who pretty much kept everybody she went after running scared.

Shawn Michael thought Carl was the best thing since sliced bread and Carl thought that the rowdy toddler was pretty cool too. The conversation at this meal was definitely going much more smoothly than it ended up at the breakfast meal. The only thing missing was Rick's sweet thing – he missed Beth terribly.

Over dessert and coffee, Rick asked Annette if he should fix Beth a plate and take it to her or wait for her to wake up and come down.

"She may not be in the mood for any of this" Annette told him. "She's funny about what she eats when she's not feeling well."

"Would it be okay if I went up to check on her" Rick asked. He felt ridiculous asking permission - he was a grown ass man for goodness sakes, but this was not his home and it was his first time here.

"Of course it's okay Rick" Maggie told him. "If ya don't wake her up, she'll sleep all damn night and then be pissed at everybody because she didn't get any supper."

"Margaret" Hershel mumbled around a mouth full of pumpkin pie.

"What?" Maggie shot back. "Ya know it's the truth – just like that time she had strep at Easter. Ya'll were just so glad for some peace and quiet that ya'll wouldn't let anybody wake her up. Then when she finally did get up and discovered that there wasn't any chicken casserole left – well, you woulda thought the world was coming to an end."

Annette smiled at the memory. "Yes, you and Shawn tried to pay her off with the offering up of your own chocolate bunnies."

Rick smiled. He could picture a pissed off Beth, hands on her hips, demanding to know where her casserole went. "I'll just be a minute – think I'll see if she wants some supper."

Rick left the room and conversation hit a lull. Finally, with a sweet smile Glen spoke up first. "I think he's completely taken with our Beth."

"Ya think?" Annette teased her son in-law. "Never seen anything like it."

Everyone agreed and Carl figured he'd add his two cents worth. "She's all he talks about – he's crazy about her. I'm really happy for my dad – he's been lonely for so long. Doesn't seem fair, ya know?"

Everyone murmured varying forms of agreement. Hershel remembered back to being alone with a little girl to raise all on his own. Annette also remembered having a small child to raise and no one to share the burden. She and Hershel had found each other at just the right time. Before anyone had too awfully much time to get lost in their thoughts, Rick had returned.

"She just wants mashed potatoes with a tiny bit of gravy and some green peas" Rick reported. "Doesn't seem like much does it?" he asked Annette.

"Her appetite always does fall off when she's feelin poorly" Annette told him. Rick pulled a plate from the cabinet he'd seen Annette get them from earlier and began to fix Beth's supper. Annette made to get up.

"Rick, I'll fix it hon" she began.

"No Mam" Rick held his hand up to her. "Ya stay right there and visit with Maggie – I can do this." And he did. Rick put a small portion of potatoes on the plate and made the little well so the gravy would stay put. Next, he dished out a few serving spoonfuls of peas on the plate. Finally, he filled a glass with ice and sweet tea. "She said she really didn't feel up to comin down – I'm gonna go sit with her while she eats."

Everyone smiled. "Maybe she'll come down for some dessert later" Maggie suggested.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Ya want your peas on top of your potatoes?" Rick teased Beth as he placed a large cloth napkin across her lap.

Beth laughed quietly. "No – that's okay" she said. "Thanks for fixin my plate."

"You're welcome Baby" Rick told her and then kissed her square on the mouth. "Missed ya this evenin. Ya feelin okay?"

"Yeh" she said, sampling a few peas she's speared with her fork. "I feel a little fuzzy headed."

"Probably normal" Rick told her. "Carl's been pretty worried 'bout ya. And, Shawn Michael keeps askin for Bef."

Beth smiled. "That boy's a mess!"

Rick nodded in agreement. "He sure is" Rick said. "Kept all the best cars for himself." He had enjoyed playing cars and trucks with him while they waited on supper to be ready.

"I think your parents are expectin Carl and me to spend the night" Rick told Beth. "They're settin us up in Shawn's room."

Beth had started in on her potatoes at that point. "Mmhmmm" she said. "That's right next to my room" Beth whispered.

"I know" Rick whispered back and wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Hope I don't sleep walk and end up in here." Well, Rick had not sleepwalked and everyone, of course, had been on their best behavior all weekend long.

Rick and Lori had agreed to Carl returning Saturday evening instead of Sunday afternoon and it was really going to work out for the best. Rick drove Carl home on Saturday while Beth spent most of the day with her family. Rick and Beth spent one more night at the farm before heading back to the university the next day. There were only three weeks until classes were dismissed for the fall semester. Hershel, Annette, and even Rick were a little concerned about having Beth drive back to school so soon after her concussion. It was decided that she would be better off just riding back to school with Rick. After all, he didn't mind driving her back home one little bit.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The first week back to school was a flurry of activities. It seemed that every one of Beth's professors were bound and determined to squeeze one more project in before the end of the semester. She just knew that she was going to flunk out. Rick kept trying to convince her that she was over reacting. By Thursday, however, a good ole fashioned come apart was on the horizon. She'd walked to Rick's house after her last class that day so that she could spread out with all of her study materials. There really wasn't enough space in her dorm room to do what she was trying to do. The library had plenty of space, but Beth didn't want to go there. Beth liked to talk to herself when she was completing a project and she was pretty certain people would think she'd lost her mind. So, off to Rick's it was. He'd already told her that he was working late on the communication department's budget that was due before the end of the December so she knew that she'd have the place to herself.

Beth used the dining table in the small room off of the kitchen to spread out all of her supplies and then she set to work. It was still daylight when Beth arrived – going on three o'clock she'd say. Only when it got too dark to see in the house, did Beth realize that she needed to turn some lights on and that it was well past the supper hour. Beth's tummy let her know that as well. It hadn't quit growling for the past hour. Beth paused in her work to go see if she could scrounge up something to nibble on from Rick's kitchen. She knew it was a longshot since neither one of them really did much cooking. They usually both just ate at the campus dining hall.

Beth looked at the time on her phone. _Great_ she thought to herself. _They've quit serving already at the dining hall_. Beth heard the back door rattle and in drug a worn out looking Rick Grimes. Rick looked at Beth standing in the light of an empty refrigerator and gave her a tired smile.

"I'm hungry" she stated.

"Well, you're shit outta luck if ya think you're gonna find anything in there" Rick teased. He then pulled Beth to him to wrap her up in a hug. "God I missed you so much today."

Beth clung to him as if her life depended on it. "Missed you too" she sighed. "Have a rough day?" she asked.

"Not too bad" he finally answered after a few seconds. "Just really long. Stressful – money matters stress me out. How's your project?"

"Good" she said. "Almost done – just a few more finishing touches and I can present it tomorrow."

"Hey" Rick whispered in Beth's ear. "Wanta go get Mexican?"

"Mmmm" Beth hummed. "That sounds good. Let me finish this thing, get it all packed up. Okay?"

"Sure" Rick smiled. He placed a kiss on her sweet pink lips. "I'll go get out of this tie." Beth then yanked him by his tie into another kiss, this one a little more lingering – a little more passion filled.

"I love you Rick Grimes" she told him.

Rick couldn't hide the grin on his face. "Love you Beth Greene" he told her. Then he smacked her on the ass. "Be quick – I'm starvin!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They arrived at their favorite little spot and they already had their booth ready and waiting for them – Rick had called ahead. There was a Corona for Rick, a coke for Beth, one bowl of salsa, one bowl of queso, and a basket of warm chips. Both of them tore into the chips as if they hadn't eaten all day. They didn't even have to order their meals because the kitchen already knew what they wanted.

"You eat breakfast this morning?" Beth asked Rick.

"Nope – coffee" he answered. "You?" Rick asked Beth.

"Fruit smoothie" she answered. "Lunch?" she asked.

"Uhmmmm" Rick had to stop and think. "I think I had a package of crackers. You?"

"Twinkies from a machine" she confessed.

The server arrived with their supper – steak fajitas for Rick, beef and cheese enchiladas for Beth. They plowed into their plates and didn't speak for at least five minutes.

"We really shouldn't go all day without eating" Beth told him. "My momma would have a fit."

Rick chuckled a bit. "You're right about that. I bet she would" he said. "We gotta do better. I think we should get some groceries for the house."

Beth dropped her fork. You would have thought he'd asked for her hand in marriage. "Groceries?" she asked.

"Yeh, groceries" Rick answered with a chuckle. "Ya know, people go to the store and buy food. They take the food home and put it into their cupboards and the fridge. Then, when they get hungry…"

Beth cut him off. "I know what groceries are" she laughed. "I just" and then she stopped talking.

"Just what" Rick asked.

"I just didn't realize we were at the grocery stage in our relationship" Beth joked.

"If I can carry your knocked out ass with ice cream sandwich smeared all over your face into the house on Thanksgiving, then we can sure as hell go shop for groceries together" Rick stated. Beth didn't make any other comment, just picked up her fork to finish eating.

"Yeh, groceries" she said. "Groceries sounds doable. We can do groceries."

"Damn right we can" Rick agreed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, in between classes, Beth had called Maggie to see just what kind of things she kept on hand at her house to eat, knowing full well that Maggie wasn't a huge cook herself but she did manage to keep her husband and child fed.

"Don't ya think Annette would probably be your best resource for this type information" her sister had asked her.

"Yes Maggie, she probably would" Beth answered shortly "but I'm not quite ready for my mother to know that Rick and I are grocery shopping together. I don't want a whole big discussion about taking things slow, and saving myself for the right person, or living in sin. I just don't have the energy for that discussion right now."

The phone line grew quiet for a few seconds. "Mags" Beth questioned "Ya still there?"

"Yeh, I'm here" she finally answered. "I want to say a couple of things."

Beth rolled her eyes. _Oh dear God_ Beth thought to herself. _Surely Maggie's not going to turn this into a big deal._

"One" Maggie started "If you haven't given in to Rick Grimes yet, I'd say you're taking it slow. My God, that man is freakin hot. If I weren't married I'd been all over that Thanksgiving night."

"Maggie" Beth would like to have sounded shocked, but she wasn't shocked, just embarrassed.

"Two" Maggie continued. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone more right for you than Rick Grimes. Yes, he's twenty years older than you, but hey, that means he's got to know how to do a few things. Am I right?"

Again, Beth was never surprised by anything that came out of her sister's mouth. "Maggie" Beth sighed.

"And three" Maggie went on. "We're all sinners, so ya might as well make it worth it."

"Are ya gonna help me or not?" Beth whined.

"Have ya'll done it yet?" Maggie asked.

"What?" Beth said.

"What?" Maggie mocked Beth's innocent reply. "You know what? Have you had sex with Rick Grimes yet?"

"Maggie" Beth was now whispering into the phone and looking nervously about the surrounding students walking along beside her. "No – not yet" Beth looked down at the sidewalk. "It's not that I don't want to. And, I know he wants to, but" Beth paused.

"But what?" Maggie asked.

"I'm scared to death Maggie" Beth confessed. "I don't know what to do. You said it yourself. He's twenty years older than me. He's divorced. He's got a kid. I don't know what to do!"

Ahhh, cue the come apart that had been brewing all week long. Beth didn't know if it was because of the knock on the head she took recently, or the stress of getting assignments completed or what, but she'd been on a hair trigger all week. Beth stopped walking began sobbing into the phone – the poor girl had never been able to multi task very well. Her Daddy had always teased her that she had trouble walking and chewing bubble gum at the same time. Well, she sure as hell couldn't walk and have a mental breakdown simultaneously.

"Maggie, he's not gonna be impressed with anything I can offer him" Beth cried. She'd found a bench to plop down onto.

"Hey, hey" Maggie said trying to get Beth's attention. "Beth, stop crying and let's talk about this."

Beth did her best to dry her eyes.

"Now listen" Maggie said calmly. "Have you ever, ya know, had sex before?"

The silence answered Maggie's question before Beth actually did. "No" Beth finally answered.

"Oh" Maggie knew that Beth was fairly innocent, but geesh. "Okay, that's fine, better than fine. That's good actually – honey, you're going to be fine. Men love the idea of something that no one else has ever had."

Beth sure hoped that was the case. At least that would be one thing going for her right now.

"When the time is right, your body will take over and Rick seems to be one of the kindest, gentlest men I've ever met. He is just crazy over you – he's not going to hurt you" Maggie continued.

"Oh my God Maggie" Beth started to tune up again. "It's going to hurt. Isn't it? It's gonna hurt like hell." A random guy walking by glanced over at Beth and kept on walking.

"Well" Maggie didn't want to lie to her baby sister. "Yes, it's gonna hurt. But just a little, and not for very long. Beth, honey, it will be fine. You don't have to rush anything – you will know when the time is right."


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own any of the TWD characters. Warning: SMUT ahead.

 **Don't Forget the Cheese**

Beth pulled herself together after the conversation with her sister. She'd pulled herself together and had made a decision. Beth wasn't going to be frightened because there wasn't anything to be frightened of. She loved Rick and he loved her and she knew that he would be very good to her – she was going to quit stressing over "it". "It" would happen when and how it was supposed to, just as Maggie had advised.

Beth was headed to her dorm to just chill out and relax for a bit. It had been a rough week since returning from Thanksgiving break. There was light at the end of the tunnel, however. Finals were in two weeks and she would have a completed semester behind her. Entering her room she noticed right away that Amy must have gone home for the weekend. Her roommate only made her bed when she was leaving town. Sure enough, Amy had left a note on Beth's desk letting her know that she had gone home –her sister was hosting some kind of big holiday get together and her presence was required.

Beth's first impulse was to text Rick.

 **Hey** B

 **Hey yourself** R

Beth chewed on her lip for a minute, contemplating her next move.

 **Want a houseguest this weekend?** B

 **If you mean you – yes. Anyone else – no** R

 **My roommate's gone for the weekend, sooooooo** B

 **I expect you at my place by the time I get home. We'll do "groceries"** R

 _Groceries_ \- Beth started chewing her lip again. _Wonder if_ _ **groceries**_ _is our code for_ _ **it**_ she mumbled aloud. Then she laughed out loud. _That's funny – groceries_. Beth had never thrown an overnight bag together so quickly in her life. Plenty of panties, some not so ratty sleep shorts and a tank top, and several changes of clothes went into her bag. Next, Beth grabbed the matching cosmetic bag and started tossing everything in there she thought she might need – shampoo, conditioner, body wash and make up. Finally, she shoved her laptop into her backpack. Just because she was shacking up for the weekend didn't mean she could completely abandon her studies. Beth took one final look around the room before snatching her phone charger from the plug next to her bed. Yep, that was everything a girl needed to survive the weekend.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beth was hanging her clothes up in Rick's closet when she heard the distinct rattle of the back door.

"Lucy, I'm home" Rick hollered out in one of the worst Puerto Rican accents ever. Beth came around the corner with a funny look on her face. Rick thought her furrowed eyebrows and look of confusion was adorable. She was wearing a flowy dress type thing that hit right above her knees. It was powder blue, just like her eyes, and she had on a pair of brown suede boots. Rick knew for a fact he'd seen this girl wear at least five different pairs of boots – he wondered what her closet at home looked like. There was no telling. Regardless of the girl's shoe collection, Beth damn near knocked Rick Grimes' socks off every time he laid eyes on her.

"Who's Lucy?" Beth asked in all seriousness. Rick started to laugh but then he realized that the girl actually appeared to be pissed. It dawned on him that she had no idea who Ricky and Lucy Ricardo were.

"Oh, Beth" Rick tried his best not to laugh. "It's from an old TV show my grandpa used to watch." Rick could tell she still had no idea what he was talking about. "Never mind" he said and decided instead to kiss the lovely lady standing in front of him. He wanted to do more than kiss her, but that would most definitely be a good start.

"Now that's more like it" Beth giggled. "I'll make ya forget all about this Lucy woman." Rick snorted out loud.

"We'll look it up on youtube or something sometime" he told Beth. "Ya get settled?" he asked her.

Beth nodded. "Sure did. Hung my stuff up in your closet – hope ya don't mind."

"Not at all Baby" Rick told her. He walked her backwards into the door facing and placed both hands on the wall on each side of her effectively boxing her in. Rick kept kissing along her jaw line. "This is your place too now." Beth ran her fingers over that five o'clock stubble she loved so much. Rick growled under his breath at her simple touch.

"It is?" Beth asked with a glint in her eye. Rick was now making his way down the column of her neck.

"It is" he said huskily as he shoved at her chin with his own so that she'd expose more of her neck to him. "Been thinkin bout ya all day – hadn't been able to get shit done."

"Sorry" Beth teased. "I got something done."

"And what would that be?" Rick asked, now nibbling at the flesh right above her bra. Beth squeaked when his nibble turned to a love bite.

Beth was having a difficult time concentrating. "Uh, yeh" she stuttered. "Delivered that presentation – come to find out, it counted as our final. So" Beth paused. Rick had unhooked Beth's bra and it had fallen to the floor. Rick was now sucking on one of her nipples and rolling the other one in his big strong fingers. "So, I'm done with that, uh" Beth rambled and then moaned out.

"Mmmmmhmmmm" Rick hummed around her nipple, then made his way to the other. Beth felt her panties growing wetter by the second. "Oh God Rick" she gasped.

"Yeh" Rick asked "Whatcha need Baby?" Beth had unconsciously hiked up one leg – Rick took said leg and wrapped it around him. He ground his growing erection into her. "Tell me what ya want – I'll give ya whatever in the world ya want." Rick ran a hand up the inside of Beth's hiked leg, hooked a finger in her panties, then pulled them down in what seemed like one fluid motion. "Your panties are wet" he teased as he dropped them on the floor.

Beth gasped but didn't protest. "Rick" she whispered. "I want to be with you."

Rick slipped a finger into her wetness. He groaned out loud – she was hot and wet. "Ya are with me Baby." Rick added another finger causing Beth's breath to hitch.

"No, I mean" Beth kissed Rick on the lips to get him to look her in the eyes. "I want to _**be**_ with you."

"Beth" Rick stopped what he was doing with his hand momentarily and put her leg back down so that she was standing on both feet. "Are ya ready?" Beth nodded. "I need ya to tell me Sweetheart – I need ya to tell me that you're ready for that. I told ya I can wait as long as it takes – but I think ya know, if that's what ya want, I am not gonna deny ya one damn thing Girl."

"Rick, I'm ready" Beth said. "I want to be with you. Tonight, tomorrow night, the next night, and every night after that"

Rick cut her off with a kiss. It was sloppy and needy. "Beth, I love you so much."

Beth smiled widely at Rick. "I love you Rick" she said in between open mouthed kisses. She nibbled at Rick's bottom lip.

"There's no goin back" Rick told her with her chin in his hand. "This will mean you're mine. I don't share and I'm too damn old for a short lived fling."

Beth smiled and nodded. "I want to be yours."

"Ya think ya can tie yourself to this old fella – I've got twenty years on ya" Rick asked.

Beth nodded again. "I love you Rick, despite your being damn near geriatric."

Rick smirked. "Yeh, I'll show ya geriatric." Rick swooped Beth up and carried her to the bedroom, kicking the door open before placing his prize gently by the bed.

"I'm just a little nervous" Beth told him. Rick nodded and kissed her on each side of her neck. He turned her around so that he could unzip her dress.

"Ya don't have anything to be nervous 'bout Baby". Beth's dress dropped to the floor.

"I've never done this before" Beth confessed. She was pretty sure Rick already knew, but she thought it needed to be stated.

"I'll take care of ya – I love ya" Rick told her. The bra and panties were still in the kitchen floor so there stood Beth Greene in a pair of brown suede dress boots. As much as Rick liked those boots, he dropped to the floor and unzipped each one, pulling her delicate foot from the boots. When she was completely naked all he could do was look her over. "Fuck" he sighed.

Beth felt herself blushing. "Why am I the only one without clothing?" she joked.

Rick smirked. "Cause you're the only one worth lookin at" he quipped.

"Mmmm" Beth said. "I don't know about that." She pulled him closer to her using his tie, which she promptly loosened and removed. Next, she unbuttoned his dress shirt and threw it across the room. Rick slipped his t shirt off and tossed it. "That's more like it" she cooed as she ran her fingers all along the hard plane of his chest. She dug her nails in slightly and it produced a grown from Rick.

"Lose your pants" Beth told him.

"Yes mam" Rick complied. He stepped out of them just as quickly as he could and kicked them towards the vicinity that all the other clothing items had ended up. Beth took in the sight before her. Rick Grimes in his boxer briefs with a very obvious hard on – for her. Boxer briefs and dress socks. Beth giggled and snapped, then pointed to the socks. Rick quickly pulled them off and added them to the collection of laundry piling up around there.

"Ya ready sweetheart?" Rick asked. "Are ya ready for me to take care of ya? Show ya how much I love you?"

Beth nodded. "Yes, Rick" she said "I'm ready."

Rick gently pushed Beth to lie on the bed. He crawled in between her legs, taking one in each hand to push up and spreading them slightly. Then he began slowly licking at all of that hot wetness in between her legs. They'd almost made it to this point once, but she'd stopped him. Why on earth she'd stopped him she was certainly debating right now because, Good Lord, she'd never felt anything like this.

Rick swiped up and down, in and out, added fingers to the mix. He finally had to hold her down with his forearm to keep her in place. She was on the brink of exploding and Rick knew that. He wanted her to cum at least once before he entered her hoping that it would insure that she was fairly ready for him.

"Rick, Rick" Beth was God they were in his house and not her dorm room.

"Oh my God" she gasped. And then, her orgasm hit. It was like some sort of out of body experience. Rick made his way up her body, kissing her belly, sucking her breasts and rolling them in his hands. Beth was still shaking from the orgasm.

"That feel good?" Rick whispered in her ear and kissed her forehead.

"Yes" she said. "That was amazing. I love you Rick."

"Love you too, but I ain't finished yet" he smiled. "Wanta keep goin?

"Yes" she answered. "Please."

Rick shucked his briefs and repositioned himself back between Beth's legs. "Now I want ya to relax Baby" Rick talked softly. He slowly entered Beth but stopped when he felt her barrier. "Ya ready?"

"Yes" she said shakily and nodded her head. "Yes, I'm ready."

"Okay" Rick told her. "Breathe in" and when she did, Rick pushed on through. He felt the barrier snap and Beth tense up a bit. Rick stilled. "Ya okay?" he asked.

"Yes, just stings a bit" she told him. A small tear slipped down her cheek "I'm okay."

Rick kissed the tear away. He pulled out a bit, but then went back in smoothly and continued with a slow and steady pace. The stinging that Beth was experiencing eventually subsided and was replaced by just a feeling of warmth and love and security.

Beth could tell that Rick was getting close as his breathing was becoming shallower. His pace had sped up as he was approaching his finish, but he wanted to make Beth cum one more time. "Beth, Baby" Rick said. "Wanta try something?" he asked.

"Yeh" she replied. Rick tapped her hip. "Turn over" he told her "Get on all fours."

If Beth didn't feel naughty before, she sure did now. When she'd gotten turned over, Rick pulled her hips up so that her ass was really sticking up in the air. He smacked it gently for good measure and entered her. The new angle caused Beth to groan out loudly, really loudly.

"Oh, oh Rick" she panted and pushed back. She'd never imagined how good this could feel.

"Oh God" Rick ground out. He was trying his best to hold off until Beth finished. He could tell she was close. He knew how sensitive her breasts were, so he reached to them and began tweaking one of her nipples. Rick felt the response immediately. "That's my girl, cum on Beth, cum on Baby" he said. And she did.

"Oooooooo" Beth called out. "Oooooo Rick. Oh my God" she cried out.

Rick couldn't hold back any longer. He unloaded everything he had into Beth – she had gone limp at this point and he was holding her up in front of him, playing with those gorgeous breast of hers. They collapsed to the bed and just held each other.

They must have dozed off for a bit. Rick caught a chill and that's what woke him up. "Ya okay" he asked Beth as he tugged her closer, if that were even possible.

"I'm more than okay" she turned over in his arms and smiled at him. "That was incredible Rick" Beth said.

"Love you" Rick told her as he began kissing her.

"Love you too" Beth answered. "Was I okay?"

"Oh Baby" Rick took her face in his hands. "You were perfect – absolutely perfect!"

"I'm hungry" Beth giggled.

"Yeh, we really do need to get some groceries" Rick laughed. "I mean, we really need to get some groceries."

Both of them erupted into fits of giggles.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick ran a big tub full of hot bath water and bubbles – thankfully Beth had thought ahead enough to bring some with her.

"Water's ready Beth" he told her. Rick had showered and put on jeans and a sweatshirt. "Probably be a good idea for you to take a good soak – don't want ya to be sore after while. I might be up for round two."

Beth smiled to herself, but then grimaced a little when she got up out of the bed. She was sore already. "Good idea" she said. Rick noticed her movement.

"Hey, ya okay?" Rick asked.

"Yeh, you're right – just a little sore" Beth told him. "I'll be fine."

"I'm gonna run and get us some supper from Smitty's then we can get to that shoppin" Rick smiled at her. "Want anything in particular from the diner?"

"Nope" Beth hollered from the bathroom. "Surprise me." He'd see what he could do about that because Beth had already surprised the shit out of him tonight. If someone had told him that he'd be having sex with Beth Greene before supper time tonight, he never would have believed them.

"Be right back" he leaned over and kissed her. She looked like an angel sitting in a cloud surrounded by all those bubbles.

"Kay" she said. "Be careful."

XXXXXXXXXXX

It had been a while since Beth had had a good burger from Smitty's – they really were the best around. That and a good ole fashioned cherry coke. Rick had a double cheeseburger and a chocolate shake. He'd gotten them a large order of chili cheese fries to split. They were nearly finished with their meal when Rick pulled a small notepad out of his shirt pocket.

"What on earth is that?" Beth asked.

"It's the grocery list" Rick answered as if it should be obvious. "I've been workin on it today. I was thinkin we get what we need to grill out tomorrow night and breakfast in for two days" he looked across the table at Beth and smirked. She smirked back.

"Okay" Beth agreed. "What are we going to get to have on hand for quick suppers when we can't get to the dining hall?"

"I've thought of that too" Rick announced. He seemed very proud of himself. "I thought of things we could just throw together real quick, ya know like spaghetti, homemade pizza, stuff like that."

"Well, Rick Grimes" Beth smiled "I must say, that I'm very impressed with your domestic tendencies. I sure hope you don't think you're going to show me up in that department."

"I don't think I could show you up in any department Beth Greene" he replied. Beth finished her soda and Rick slurped the very last of his shake. "Ya 'bout ready sweetheart?" Rick asked as he gathered up all the trash to deposit into the can under his sink.

"I sure am" Beth laughed. "Let's go get groceries."

Rick laughed. "Yeh, groceries."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beth was pushing the cart down the dairy aisle. Rick had gone to grab a roll of trash bags – he had remembered that he'd used the last one day before last. As Beth stood there in front of the pasteurized cheese slices, she felt the presence of someone standing next to her. Beth looked to her left to see none other than the University President himself. He had on jeans, a football sweatshirt, and a university baseball cap. He looked a little out of his element, but it was most definitely President Graves. He held one of the blue shopping baskets in his hand and only had a few items in there.

He exchanged glances with Beth. "Aren't you Beth Green" he finally asked.

"Yes sir" Beth smiled "I am."

"I thought so" he smiled warmly. "You look a little different without your sash and tiara."

Beth laughed. "Well, you look a little different too. Guess it's casual Friday, huh?" They both laughed and President Graves looked at the cheese slices in her hand.

"Oh, dear" the man said "You're not thinking of buying those are you?"

Beth had that "deer in the headlights" look. "Well, yes" she said. "I need it for sandwiches."

"You should get them to slice up some cheddar from the deli" he leaned in and whispered, like it was some big government secret or something. "No preservatives – real cheese. I took some of that home one time" he tilted his hand to the package that Beth had gotten rid of. "Boy, did my wife let me have it."

"Okay" Beth said. "I'll do that"

"Hey Babe" Rick was saying as he walked up on the conversation. "I found that spaghetti sauce Glen said he uses" Rick stopped talking when he saw who was standing there next to Beth.

President Graves looked at Rick, then looked at Beth, and back at Rick. "Rick" he finally said "how ya doing tonight?"

Beth swallowed and wondered if everyone could hear her do so. "Beth and I are just picking up a few things." Rick put his hand to the small of Beth's back.

"You are?" the much older man asked. "Together?" he asked without thinking, then he wished he'd just stopped talking.

"Yes, together" Rick said. "Beth and I are seeing each other."

"Oh" President Graves said. He now wished Rick would stop talking but he didn't seem to be able to.

"Actually, we're pretty serious" Rick continued. Beth shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

"I see that" the older man said. "Sharing a" the man paused "shopping cart would indicate that things are pretty serious."

"Yes" Rick said. "Well, it is. It's pretty serious – just in case you wondered."

"I didn't" he said. "But thanks for update. Well, you two enjoy the rest of your evening. Beth, don't forget what I said about that cheese."

"Yes sir" Beth called after him. "Headed over to the deli department right now."

Rick and Beth stood there in front of the sour cream and cottage cheese staring after the old man that had just left. A shiver ran over Beth's body.

"Oh my God" Beth finally breathed out. "Rick Grimes, did anyone ever tell you that you had diarrhea of the mouth?"

"What? I'm not the one discussing cheese with the man" Rick came back.

"Uh, yeh, we're pretty serious – no I mean real serious" Beth mocked Rick.

Rick looked sheepish. "Was it that bad?"

"Yes" Beth answered. "Yes, Rick. It was. Oh my God." Beth took one final look at the dairy products. "Ya like cheesecake?"

"Hell yeh" Rick said. "Who doesn't like cheesecake?"

"I mean, like real cheesecake" Beth clarified.

"Ya know how to make cheesecake? REAL cheesecake?" now Rick was just being a smartass.

"Shut up" Beth snapped. She tossed cream cheese and sour cream into the cart and made a mental note to run by the kitchen section to grab a spring form pan. She was fairly certain Rick wouldn't have one of those in his kitchen.

"What the hell was that all about?" Rick asked.

Beth laughed. "Oh, he was warning me about the evils of pasteurized cheese products."

They made the circuit through the rest of the store, tossing items into the cart and stopping occasionally to debate which cereal and what kind of crackers to select. They'd nearly made it to the checkout line when they came across a Christmas display.

"I'm thinkin 'bout gettin a tree this year" Rick said.

"Oh?" Beth asked. "Ya don't usually put a tree up?"

"Naw" Rick replied. "It's usually just me. If I do have Carl it's at the last minute."

"Rick" Beth said in all seriousness. "Ya have to put up a tree – it's Christmas. Why, ya just have to put up a tree."

Rick could tell that Beth was adamant about this tree business.

"Well, I don't have any ornaments" he said. They both stood there in front of the Christmas display.

"Do you like any of these?" Beth asked.

"I don't know?" Rick answered. "Do you?"

"No" she answered honestly.

"Well" Rick didn't really know what to say to that.

"I know what we should do" Beth said.

"What's that?" Rick asked.

"We should go to Hobby Lobby tomorrow" Beth was getting more and more excited by the second. "The Christmas stuff is always half price this time of year – oh, can we?"

"Of course we can" Rick pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead.


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own any of the TWD characters.

 **Well, That Escalated Quickly**

Rick and Beth eventually got all the items on their shopping list and then some. They were able to get all of their groceries put away before Beth had decided that she was ready for round two. Rick was all too happy to oblige her.

Rick insisted that Beth sleep in Saturday morning while he whipped up breakfast and after their active night, Beth was glad of it. When dawn seemed to be peeking in behind the curtains, Rick slipped his sleep pants on and got out of bed. Beth rolled over sensing the absence of his warmth immediately.

"Where ya goin?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

"Gonna start some breakfast" he leaned over and kissed her gently. "And, I wanta get some things down out of the attic over the garage. There's some Christmas boxes out there I forgot about."

"Oh, okay" Beth smiled at him. "I'll get up in a bit."

"Go ahead and sleep in Baby" Rick told her. "I know you're tired."

Beth was tired and achy – wonderfully achy. When she thought of what all Rick Grimes had done to her to cause that achiness, she blushed. Maggie was right – that man knew a thing or two. She was never going to be able to face Maggie because if she knew her sister, and she did, Maggie was going to insist on details – every, last dirty sinful detail.

Beth must have drifted back off to sleep. The sun was fully up when Rick had stepped out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around his slender waist. _What is this man trying to do to me_ she thought to herself.

"Hey Girl" he said as he took the towel from around his waist and used it to towel dry his hair. He hadn't shaved either. Beth rubbed her legs together – she just couldn't take it.

"Hey" Beth grinned. "What time is it?"

"Time to get up" Rick threw the damp towel at her. "Breakfast is ready and waitin. I want you to go out to the garage and let's look through all that stuff out there. I completely forgot about it – most of it was my grandmothers, so it's pretty old. I think Lori just boxed it all up one year and sent it to me. Course I didn't have any interest in goin through it back then."

Beth crawled out of bed, slipped into some sweat pants, and pulled her hair up into a haphazard pony. She went to Rick's closet, but instead of pulling out one of the sweatshirts she'd brought she chose one of Rick's. She inhaled deeply as she pulled it over her head.

"Like that, do ya?" Rick teased and pulled her in for a kiss.

"Yeh" Beth giggled. "Smells like you."

Breakfast was very good and Beth raved and raved about Rick's cooking skills. "Girl, ya ain't seen nothing yet – wait till I throw those steaks on the fire tonight" he teased.

"We can still go to Hobby Lobby if ya want later, but I thought we'd go through all those boxes first" he said.

"Sure" Beth answered. Before heading out to the garage, she put the cream cheese and eggs out on the counter to come to room temp. Once outside with Rick she saw that he'd already emptied all of the boxes and had things sorted in piles out on the driveway.

"This pile is all the stuff I remember" he smiled. "Some of my favorites."

Beth could see why. "They're beautiful Rick – just beautiful."

"I thought you might like them" Rick told her. "It's been a long time since I've been excited for Christmas."

"Christmas is the best" Beth told him. She sounded like Buddy from Elf Rick thought "singing is the best – it's my favorite". Rick chuckled at Beth's enthusiasm. "Rick" Beth said trying to get his attention. "Rick!"

"Yeh" he said absentmindedly. He was currently tangled up in a strand of lights and trying not to lose his balance and step on any of them.

"Trash the lights" Beth told him. "They're never worth trying to save – we can get some at Hobby Lobby."

She sounded like the authority on Christmas decorations, so he dumped the massive tangle of bulbs into the trash barrel. By lunchtime, she and Rick had the front porch decorated and were working on the inside of the house. Beth threw a sandwich and chips together for them – with sliced cheddar from the deli by the way- and started on the cheesecake. She wanted it to bake while she soaked in the tub and then it would still have plenty of time to cool so that they could enjoy it for dessert tonight.

They were both lost in thought at the kitchen table when they heard a knock at the front door. No one ever came to the front door.

"That's odd" Rick said and he got up to go see who was there. "Oh, Paul – Janet" Rick said cautiously. "Come on in." Paul and Janet Graves had come for a visit. Rick called into the kitchen. "Hey Beth" he said "we've got company."

Now, if Beth thought she looked rough when she first got dressed that morning, well, she certainly didn't look any better at this point. The girl had worked for hours outside in the cold and wind decorating. She was sweaty and wind burned and disheveled to say the least. Regardless, she came into the living room to see the University President and his wife.

"Hello" Beth said politely and held out her hand to shake Mrs. Graves' hand. "It's nice to see you again Mrs. Graves."

"Oh hello dear" the lady said. "You're just as lovely not all dolled up as you are in your finest." Everyone laughed nervously. "Oh" the lady said as if she'd forgotten what she was holding. "I brought a live wreath for the front door" she handed it over to Beth.

"And we wanted to remind Rick about the administrative Christmas party" President Graves stated and looked to Rick. Rick grimaced because he was really going to try and weasel out of that this year. He had a pretty good track record of doing so behind him and he hated to give his streak up now. "He doesn't have an excuse this year since he's going to have a lovely date."

Beth smiled nervously at Rick as he turned paler by the minute. Finally, Rick cleared his throat.

"Of course, we will be there" Rick smiled "wouldn't miss it for the world." Inside his head Rick thought maybe he or Beth could come down with a case of food poisoning of something if they were lucky.

"Yes, that sounds like fun" Beth added. NOT she said in her head. "Is it a casual thing, or a little more formal?"

"Oh, somewhere in between" Janet responded. "We all usually like to wear our holiday finest, you know. And years ago, we used to have it catered, but then one year something fell through with the planning of the party and we ended up having to do a potluck type thing at the last minute."

Beth nodded as if this were the most interesting information she'd ever heard in her life. Rick stared at Beth to try and get her attention to see if she would get tickled. "Really" Beth asked in wonderment.

"Yes!" the lady continued. "And, do you know what?" She didn't wait for anyone to answer. "Everyone enjoyed showing off their culinary talents so much that we just stuck with it. So, I say all that to let you know that you'll need to bring a couple of your best party type foods."

Inside Beth's head – my best party type foods, my best party type foods – delivery pizza? "Well, I will have to put some thought into that, won't I?" Beth finally said.

"Yes, dear" Janet replied. "You will."

"Well, Janet. Come along, we've taken enough of their time today" Mr. Graves said. "We'll be on our way. Rick, see ya 'round campus son."

"Yes Sir" Rick said as he walked them to the door.

"Thank you again for the wreath" Beth threw in. "It's lovely. We'll hang it up right away."

Later on, over steak and baked potato Rick and Beth discussed the whole administrative Christmas Party.

"It's really painfully boring" Rick told her. "Please don't make me go" he whined.

"I don't think it's optional if you want my opinion" Beth told him. "Ya think they delivered a wreath and personal invite to every vice president?"

"Probably not" Rick admitted. "Think I'm Janet's favorite" Rick winked at Beth.

"And why wouldn't you be?" Beth teased.

"I know, right?" Rick laughed as he took both of their plates to the sink. "This cheesecake ready? Been fantasizing 'bout it all day."

Beth acted as if her feelings were hurt. "And I thought you were thinkin of me when ya kept gettin that faraway look in your eyes today."

"I'm teasin" Rick said as he pulled some smaller plates out of the cupboard. "Ready for a slice?" he asked.

"Yes" Beth told him. "Most definitely."

Rick went on and on about the cheesecake saying he'd never had any as good as that. "Beth, Baby, I'm really impressed – I can't wait to have a slice for breakfast."

"You're not havin cheesecake for breakfast" she told Rick.

"Huh" Rick huffed out "hide and watch."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wanta have shower sex?" Rick asked as he nuzzled into Beth's ear from behind.

Beth looked into the bathroom mirror with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Duh, yeh" she laughed. "Is it safe?" she asked.

"Is it safe?" Rick laughed. "Ya think I'm gonna drop dead or something?"

Beth laughed. "No, that's not what I meant. I mean, I don't want you to drop me or us slip and fall or anything. Wouldn't that be something on the front page of the College Herald? - _**Vice President Grimes Found in Shower with his Young Tart of a Girlfriend**_."

"Well, I know one thing" Rick told her in all seriousness.

"What's that" she asked.

"They'd all be jealous as hell" he said.

Beth took Rick up on his offer of shower sex and was very happy that she did. Never had she felt so dirty while standing under a spray of water and having body wash bubbles all over her. It was thrilling and oh so very satisfying. Yes, if she ever worked up the nerve to tell Maggie all about her weekend, this would definitely steal the show.

As they were warming up in bed – they'd used up all the hot water and nearly froze to death while Beth finished Rick off with her first blow job ever – Rick pulled her close and snuggled.

"Your butt cheeks are cold baby" Rick kissed the back of her neck.

"I'm freezing" she said. "Can we get an electric blanket sometime?"

"If that's what you want" Rick told her.

"Can we get a hot tub?" Beth asked.

"Sure, if that's what you want" Rick answered.

Beth knew he was full of shit. "Can we get a yellow lab, a cleaning lady, and an in ground pool."

"Of course" Rick agreed. "Whatever ya want Baby."

"You're crazy" Beth told him and elbowed him gently in the ribs.

"Ooommph" Rick responded. "Just crazy 'bout you – crazy bout you."

Rick heard Beth's breathing even out and she was making those tiny little snores in her sleep that he loved so much. "Hey Beth" he whispered. "Beth" he whispered a little louder and jostled her gently.

She jumped a bit. "Yeh" she said.

"Ya know those really tall gray boots ya have?" Rick asked Beth. He really did pay too much attention to what this girl wore.

"Yeh" she answered.

"I don't care what else ya wear to that party" Rick told her "but I want ya in those boots."

Beth giggled. "Yes Sir" she said. They both fell into a blissful sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Monday morning, during Beth's first class she received a text from the Dean's office. "Please report to the Dean of Student's office at your earliest convenience. We need to speak with you regarding an urgent matter."

 _What the hell_ Beth thought. She tried to think if she was falling behind in any of her classes – no, she had near perfect grades in every class except biology. Beth loathed biology but she knew she had a solid B at the very least. Well, of course after getting a notification like that it was hard for her to concentrate at her next class so by the time she should have been in her third class she was stomping up the steps to the Dean's office.

A small, busy body looking lady greeted Beth as soon as she stepped into the office. "Might I help you?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm Beth Greene" she began "I was notified to come by here just as soon as possible."

"Yes, I know who you are" the lady said. "Have a seat" she gestured over to the waiting area of the office. "I'll let them know you're here."

 _Them_ Beth thought to herself. _Them. Who are them?_ Beth's mind began to race. Come on Beth, get it together. A few seconds later, Busy Body Betty (that's what Beth named her) returned.

"They're ready for you" she said. Beth stood and Triple B (that's what Beth had renamed her) escorted her into the office. Beth followed the lady in to an office with a huge conference type table where there were several men and women sitting around.

President Graves was there, along with some other stuffy looking men. The women around the table didn't look any friendlier.

The Dean of Students finally spoke up. "Hello Dear" he began "don't be nervous, we just wanted to speak with you a bit about your current situation. Just to make sure everything's okay – you know, that you're not being pressured into anything that you don't want to be involved in."

"My current situation?" Beth asked. She looked directly at President Graves. "What current situation?" President Graves looked down at the table.

"Your current romantic situation" the Dean prompted.

"Excuse me" Beth said as she stiffened in her chair. "I hardly see how my romantic life is any of your concern – it certainly doesn't warrant a formal inquisition I can assure you."

A few of the people sitting around the table cleared their throats and the tension in the room was growing by the nanosecond.

"Now, there's no need to be defensive" one of the men said. "You do represent our school as our homecoming queen and your dating an administrator of the University that is two decades your senior."

"Who are all of you people?" Beth finally asked.

"Oh, forgive me" the Dean said. It all had a very Hunger Games type feel to it. If they thought she was going to take this shit sitting down, they had another thing coming. _Come on Beth_ , she talked to herself. _Channel your inner Maggie. What would Maggie do?_

"This is our Board of Trustees" he continued. "And, you know President Graves."

"Yes" Beth answered. "Yes, I do" she said coldly. _I'd like to knock him out with a block of cheese_ she thought to herself.

One of the female trustees spoke up. "We just want to make sure you're not being pressured into an unhealthy relationship."

"Well, that's just so nice of you" Beth replied. "While I appreciate your concern" she tried her best to not be sarcastic "I am an adult and it is a consensual relationship. And, I believe that's all you need to know." Beth stood up to leave.

"Sit down young lady" President Graves told her. Beth did not sit down but she stopped walking toward the door.

"This is not acceptable to the Trustees" he continued. "Even though we've just gotten off the phone with your parents"

"You did what?" Beth asked.

"We contacted your parents to see if they were aware of the situation" he continued.

"And what did they tell you?" Beth asked. She sent up a silent prayer that her Daddy set them straight.

"Well" Mr. Graves began. Beth couldn't help but notice that everyone around the table had lost a little puff in their sails. "He informed us that he was aware of your and Mr. Grimes' relationship, that Mr. Grimes had met and been accepted by all of your family members, and that neither he nor your mother had an issue with it."

"Well, there you go" Beth said. "I'll just be on my way then."

"Not so fast" someone else spoke up. "One of you will be leaving the University after the Christmas break. Either you can transfer to another school, or Mr. Grimes may turn in his resignation."

Beth was shocked into silence for a moment, but it didn't take her long to regain her composure. "You do realize that there is nothing in the student handbook that prohibits me from dating him. He is not a professor in any of my courses and I am of legal age" Beth told them.

Stunned silence. "Furthermore, I do not appreciate what amounts to being ambushed by the lot of you thinking that you can scare me into transferring" she continued. "And finally, you will be hearing from my attorney, Michonne Anthony. She's out of Atlanta – you can look her up if you'd like – she's specializes in civil liberty cases but this is pretty close. I'm sure she'd love to take a stab at it."

Beth was walking for the door but stopped just short. "Oh, and by the way, don't count on getting anymore of Hershel Greene's money. Check your listing of top benefactors – he's at the top of the list. Correction, he was at the top of that list."

Now Beth walked through the door and slammed it closed, nearly taking it off the hinges.

"That didn't go quite as I expected it to" the Dean said.

"Ya think?" one of the trustees asked sarcastically. "Damn."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beth stood out on the steps of the building she'd just exited. Was this happening or had she just imagined it all. _What a bunch of fucking assholes_ she screamed internally. The first thing she did was to text Rick.

 **Heads up** B

 **What's going on?** R

 **I've just been ambushed by the board of trustees about you and I.** B

 **What?** R

 **They're coming after you next.** B

 **Meet me at the house.** R

 **Be there in five**. B

They'd met up at Rick's house. Beth was so mad she could barely recall everything she'd said but she was pretty sure she gotten the jest of it relayed to Rick. He was livid – fit to be tied. The veins in his forehead were bulging so that Beth was afraid that he was going to stroke out.

"I told them they'd be hearing from my lawyer" Beth said. Rick just looked at Beth. "Unless, ya want to just call it quits – I know you've worked hard to get where ya are. I can go to school someplace else, or just go home and leave you alone. I'll do whatever you want me to do."

Rick looked at Beth in disbelief. "What are you talkin about Beth?"

"I'll do whatever you want me to do – you've worked too hard to get where you are" she repeated.

"That's absolute bullshit Beth – this University can kiss my wrinkled up nut sack. Either we both stay – and make their lives miserable. Or we both go on to bigger and better things."

Beth had held it together as long as she could and the tears began to flow. The tears and the unrecognizable words coming out of her mouth. Rick thought she said she loved him and didn't want him to suffer. Rick couldn't understand a word that she was saying so he just held her in his arms until she'd cried herself to sleep. Rick covered her with a blanket and went into the other room to make a call.

"Hello, and how are you?" Rick asked someone on the other end of the phone. "It's Rick Grimes – I've got a situation." Rick chuckled after a few moments. "No, not in the market for another divorce. Listen, I'm in a bit of a legal situation here" Rick went on to fill his attorney in on what was going on.

"Yes, she's got her own lawyer" Rick verified. "Michonne Anthony – I think she's a civil liberties attorney in Atlanta. Her sister is her administrative assistant." Rick threw his head back as he had a good laugh. "So, you know of her?"

"I'd like you to go with me to meet with these mofos" Rick told him. "I can't believe they blindsided Beth like they did – she went in on her own, not knowin what the hell she was walkin into. I think she handled herself pretty well though."

"Can ya be here tomorrow?" Rick asked. "Good. I appreciate it man. I really do."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Neither had slept much. Beth had spent the majority of the night on the phone with her sister, her parents, and Michonne. Michonne was fired up and ready for a fight – she thrived on this shit. She'd told Maggie to clear her calendar so that she could be there the next day as well. Her sister was furious, of course. Beth's parents were very supportive telling her to do what she knew to be right – to stand up for herself and for Rick.

Sure enough, Rick received a phone call mid-morning that he should report to the President's office. "I'll be right there" he replied as if he knew nothing.

Rick and his attorney walked the short distance to the President's office from Rick's building. They met Beth and MIchonne out on the sidewalk so that the four of them could enter together.

The secretary took in the group in front of her. Beth had worn the gray over the knee boots just for this occasion. She had a feeling they weren't going to be attending the Christmas party any way. "Your ten o'clock is here" she said into the phone. Then in a whisper she said "they're both here and they've lawyered up". The secretary again looked at Rick and Beth holding hands. An extremely tall dark skinned woman with long braids sat beside Beth and a dark haired, brooding man in a black leather jacket sat on the other side of Rick. It was quite the foursome that was for sure.

"They'll see you now Mr. Grimes" the secretary said. All four of them stood up. "No, just Mr. Grimes" she said.

"I don't think so" Michonne said and smiled at the lady. The four of them walked right past her and into the office.

President Graves looked up at the group entering the office.

"Hope ya got your shittin pants on" Rick's lawyer boasted.

"What?" President Graves looked puzzled.

"Your shittin pants. I hope you're wearing them right now….cause you're bout to shit your pants" he smiled that wolfish smile of his. "I'm Negan, by the way."


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own any of the TWD characters. Listen, I'm no lawyer – just enjoy the fricken story. Please spare me the comments on how a University Board of Trustees would never give in to such demands – bet they would if Negan were standing in front of them.**

 **Guest Reviewer:** Beth is only 18 – yes, she's a little immature. However, I thought she handled herself pretty well considering the circumstances.

 **AwkwardPause069** – Rick and Beth are in store for some changes, but don't you dare worry about them because they will do very well for themselves. And you are correct – Beth is going on do to some amazing, kick ass things in the world. She is most definitely NOT a wilting flower.

 **The Times They Are A Changing**

Beth was waiting for Rick in their usual booth at their place. They met for lunch once a week at the Mexican restaurant and Rick spent every weekend at the farm. They texted every day and face timed each night before bedtime. It had been three weeks since the "meeting of the minds" and they only had one more week until Rick would be moving into the rental house that her parents had just never had the heart to get rid of.

Beth had already ordered for the both of them – it wasn't like she needed to because the server already knew what they would be having. Rick had texted before he left campus to let her know that he was running just a bit late so she wouldn't worry. Beth zoned out a bit while she was waiting – the memory of the meeting replayed in her mind just as clearly as if she were watching it on a video.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

By the time John Negan and Michonne Anthony finished with the Board of Trustees and President Graves, they were happy to give Rick and Beth anything they wanted just to get shed of them and to save what little bit of integrity they had left. The trustees thought they pretty much had their shit together until they met the likes of Negan and Michonne combined. Michonne and Negan had both blasted them while Rick and Beth pretty much just sat there and let their attorneys handle everything.

Each attorney pointed out that no rules had been broken by either party, both were consenting adults, and Rick at no point had been in any type of supervisory role with Beth – he wasn't a professor of any of her classes, he was not an advisor to her in any way. It had become obvious that the Trustees just didn't like the idea of their relationship and kept using vague accusations and terms like "frowned upon" and "not proper". When it was obvious they weren't getting anywhere, Negan decided to take things up a notch.

"Sooooo, I'm thinking what a good time it'd be to cast some shade on your athletic department" Negan said out of the blue.

"What?" President Graves questioned. That had been a word he'd used over and over all morning. "What?" "What?" he'd squawk every time Negan said something.

"Your. Athletic. Department." Negan said slowly. "Ya know, your recruiting practices, athletic spending, maybe ya got some coaches boinkin their players." Negan shoved his pelvis in the direction of one of the female trustees when he said the work boinkin causing her to blush.

"Bet there's at least a couple" he winked at all of them. "Might even be some homosexual freaky deaky shit goin on" he taunted.

President Graves got a funny look on his face. "Mr. Negan, this issue has nothing to do with the athletic department."

"Oh, I know, but hell. How much fun would that be? Ya know, just for shits and giggles" Negan said.

The vice – president of the athletic department broke out into a sweat and asked for a few private moments with the board.

Negan grinned ear to ear. "God, what a pussy" he'd barked out. "Sure, ya talk with your board."

Michonne had already rattled their cages earlier in the meeting with invasion of privacy accusations from where they'd involved Beth's parents.

"She is not a minor and you had no reason or right to involve the Greene family in this matter" Michonne had stated. "I'm wondering if you respect anyone's rights around here? You would certainly think a young, affluent Caucasian female's rights would be respected. Just makes me wonder how other, possibly more diverse student groups are treated….." Michonne trailed off.

Well, some of the board members damn near fell out in the floor at the implication. They didn't need to deal with any of those issues for sure.

"Yes" President Graves stammered "Could we have a few minutes to speak privately and we'll be right back with you all."

"By all means, take all the time you need" Michonne told the group.

"I'll be damned" Negan shouted. "Ya got ten minutes!"

The Fantastic Four went back out into the lobby to wait. The secretary had been caught standing extremely close to the door. Negan brushed up against her when he walked by. "Excuse me Sweetheart" he said as he pressed his crotch up against her.

The lady's face turned beet red and she scurried back to her desk. Michonne smirked at Negan's tactics – she'd heard of John Negan and his down n dirty strategies. Normally, she would find his demeanor disgusting but currently, it was funny as hell. He certainly was as everyone had described him – amazingly hot and utterly crass.

Five minutes later, one of the female trustees came into the outer lobby area. "We're ready to talk" she said quietly.

"Let's talk then" Negan stood all the while eyeing her up and down as if he had xray vision and could see through to her underwear. "By all means, let's fuckin talk" he said loudly. They all went back into the office.

Rick and Beth had already decided that they wanted nothing more to do with this school. The original ultimatum was for either Beth or Rick to leave – they didn't want both of them on campus any longer. Michonne agreed that neither would ever get a fair shake while dealing with the likes of these people and that leaving was probably in both of their best interest.

Negan was a bit more crude, of course, but agreed. "Oh, ya'll are gettin the fuck outta here, but it's gonna cost em – it's gonna cost em."

The Board was pretty much willing to listen to just about anything Negan and Michonne came up with to get rid of Rick and Beth. They didn't want any more trouble – trouble that when they stopped and thought about it – they had stirred up themselves.

Rick left the meeting with a glowing written letter of recommendation from every person in that board room. He was also granted a very generous severance package. All Rick had to do was finish out the academic semester – which meant he had to stay on campus until December 22.

They wanted Beth off campus – immediately. This meant she would not be able to complete classes or take any of her final exams. Michonne pointed out that they were dealing with a 4.0 student.

"She has worked hard in all of her classes and you just expect her to abandon that investment?" Michonne had questioned them. "I don't think so friends. No, her current GPA stands. She will get full credit for all of the courses she took this semester."

They all murmured and then agreed that, yes that seemed fair. She was after all, a good student.

"In addition" Michonne went in for the kill "Hershel Greene will be reimbursed this semester's tuition."

"Now, just one minute" one of the trustees spoke up.

Michonne turned her head to look him dead in the eye. "A small compensation considering the amount of pain and suffering this young lady has endured." Michonne looked to Beth.

As if on cue, Beth teared up. "The mental anguish has been so great that I believe I may have to seek a mental health professional." Beth rubbed at her temples – it was an over exaggerated show of what they were willing to do if they didn't agree to their terms.

"Just agree to it" one of the female trustees spit. "Hell, if you were in a court of law would you withhold anything from her – look at her. We just need to get this shit show behind us. And real quick like."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Beth grinned to herself when she remembered the look on all of their faces when she turned the waterworks on. She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't realize Rick was coming in the front door of the restaurant. The servers and hostess yelled at Rick and waved at him as he entered. Beth jumped up out of her booth seat and Rick wrapped her up in his arms as soon as he reached her.

They kissed and kissed for what seemed like an hour, not really caring that there were other people in the restaurant. "I missed you" Beth breathed out.

"Missed you too Baby" Rick said with her face in his hands while he just looked into her eyes. "Having a good week?"

They both sat down and started on their chips, salsa, and cheese dip. Beth nodded her head up and down. "Yep" she said.

"How's work?" Rick asked her.

"Great!" she chirped. "I learned how to process books this week – it's so much fun. I love it!"

"Good. I'm glad" Rick told her. "How's the house comin?"

"Pretty good I think" Beth said. She was dribbling cheese sauce down her chin. "The plumbers were there this morning when I left – think they're guttin the bathrooms today. You're probably gonna have to stay at the big house with us for at least a couple weeks."

"What a shame" Rick said sarcastically.

"How are things with you?" Beth asked obviously concerned.

"Aw, they're fine" Rick took a swig from his bottle. "Everybody's keepin their distance – fuckers. Just one more week Baby and I'll be home for good. Glen's gonna come this Friday and bring a load. Last chance to get rid of me." Rick grinned.

"Are ya kiddin?" Beth teased. "I could never get rid of you. Oh, I registered for my classes for next semester at the community college."

"Alright" Rick said. "Ya gonna try and keep workin or not?"

Beth nodded her head. "Yeh, I like my job too much to quit. They're going to let me work three days one week, two days the next – ya know so that it coincides with my classes."

Rick nodded his head in agreement, but grew pretty quiet. The server brought their plates to the table and asked if they needed anything else.

"No thank you" Beth told him. "Everything looks great."

Five or six bites in, Beth finally spoke up. "You okay?" she asked Rick.

"Yeh, of course I'm okay" Rick answered.

"No you're not" she said. "You've got something to say. Now spit it out."

Rick smiled and he wondered how Beth could already read his mind. He was never going to be able to keep anything from her.

"I'm just not sure where I go from here" he sighed. "I mean what the hell am I supposed to do now?"

Beth swallowed the cheesy goodness that was on her fork. "You do whatever the hell you want to do" she said. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm not sure if I want to go back into an academic setting" Rick confessed. "I really miss the excitement and the not ever knowing what you were gonna face of what I used to do. Ya know when I was in the army."

Rick hadn't really talked much about his time in the army or oversees and she had never pushed it. She knew that when and if he was ready to talk, he'd talk about it. "What'd you do in the army?"

"Military police" Rick replied.

"Oh" Beth said. There were a few moments of silence. "So, what?" she asked "Like, ya think ya might want to be a cop or something?"

Rick looked at Beth. "There's an opening for a deputy in the sheriff's department back home." By back home, Beth knew that Rick was referring to his new home – the three bedroom, brick ranch at the end of her parents' driveway.

"Well, if that's what ya want to do" Beth said "then I think you should go for it."

"Ya sure?" Rick questioned her. "I mean, I don't think I want to do it forever, but I'm just not ready to get back onto a campus. Kinda wanta do this – my dad was a sheriff. I think I could be good at it."

"Of course you'd be good at it" Beth encouraged. "You'd be good at anything you do.'


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own any of the TWD characters. Let's hurry up and get Rick back to Beth where he belongs.

 **Christmas Comes Early**

Rick and Beth were standing in each other's arms out in the parking lot, neither one of them wanting to part ways. Beth was leaned up against Rick's truck.

"Baby" Rick pulled her off the vehicle. "I don't want ya to get your clothes dirty."

"Not worried 'bout my clothes Rick" Beth pouted. "I'm worried about how long it's going to be until I see ya again."

Rick was trying to be strong for the both of them. "It's not gonna be but two more days – I'll be home for the weekend." Beth sniffed a bit and Rick could see that her nose was red. It had turned off much cooler today than anyone had anticipated. "And then" Rick pulled her chin up so he could look her in the eyes "just five more days and I'll be home for good. You'll probably get sick of me."

"Never!" Beth laughed. "I could never get sick of you!" She picked absentmindedly at a light colored hair on Rick's coat. It was much shorter than hers – and very course. _What in the world_ she thought to herself.

"Yeh, well, we'll see 'bout that" Rick told her.

Rick waited until Beth left the parking lot of the restaurant before he even started his truck. He hated to see her so upset, but she cried and cried every time they had to part ways. Each time Rick tried to be the voice of reason and calm her down before she set off to drive the hour and half back home to the farm. He didn't want her driving while upset – Rick didn't really like the thought of her driving that far every Wednesday to meet him for lunch anyway, but she insisted. Rick sighed heavily before turning the key in the ignition – "just one more week Baby Girl, just one more week" he uttered out loud.

Rick made the thirty minute drive back to campus – he was going to start packing up his office this afternoon. There really wasn't much else for him to do. He decided to stop at his house first though. There was something he needed to check on first.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick and Beth spent the majority of that weekend at Lowes looking at carpet and hardwood samples, selecting paint colors, and purchasing appliances. Hershel was paying for the major work that needed to be done on the house. There were some plumbing and electrical issues that absolutely had to be addressed. Beth wanted a bath attached to the master so they were knocking out walls to accommodate that change. Hershel took the hit on that too. Rick, however, was going to foot the bill on the cosmetic issues. Hershel thought by the time Beth Anne got finished with Rick's billfold, that he may have gotten the better deal.

One night at supper Annette mentioned something to the effect of _poor Rick – hope he knows what he's gettin himself in to_.

Hershel kind of chuckled softly. "Well, won't take him long if he hasn't yet" Hershel said "reckon that man's a fool for her though. I believe he'd put in a gold plated toilet if she wanted it."

In between shopping trips, meeting with the guys that were going to install flooring and a little bit of one on one time Rick managed to make some follow up phone calls about the deputy position he was interested in. He'd already submitted an application and his resume on line earlier in the week. Hershel had managed to get the name of a guy who knew another guy that might have some pull. Rick didn't really give a shit who he was – he just was hopeful for a chance to pursue this line of work for a while. Rick knew that he eventually wanted to get back onto a college campus and lead in some sort of way, but not right now. In the meantime, he needed an income to provide for himself and his love.

Parting wasn't quite so bad Sunday evening when Rick left to go back to school. "Just five more nights Beth – five more" he whispered into her lips. They were standing in the shell of what used to be their kitchen in their house. The cabinets had been taken out, old flooring removed, and all of the outdated appliances taken away. Yeh, she'd talked Rick into new cabinets the night before.

"I know" Beth whispered back. "I'm gonna be pretty busy this week with the paintin so maybe it will fly by."

"It will" Rick confirmed. "I'm sure of it. I'm not workin Friday – at all. My last day is Thursday and Glen's comin Thursday afternoon to help me pack up all the heavy stuff. Soon as we finish packin up Friday mornin – we'll be on our way."

Beth closed her eyes and leaned her head against Rick's chest. "I can't wait to have you home here with me."

"I can't wait to be here with you" Rick told her and kissed the top of her head. "Love you so much Girl, it hurts."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Be bedtime Thursday night, well around midnight or so, Rick and Glen sat in the floor of Rick's living room. They each had a sleeping bag, a pillow, and a carton of Chinese takeout. They both looked like they'd run a marathon – couple smashed fingers, some scratches here and there, and sweaty.

"Man, not a huge fan of Chinese, but this shit's good" Rick said as he crammed noodles into his mouth. He washed it down with some cool beer from a can.

"It's not bad. I've had better" Glen agreed. "Man, wish I had some of my mom's cooking. Now she can flat out cook some steamed dumplings." Glen got a faraway look in his eyes and rubbed his belly. "She tried to teach me once, but they didn't turn out very well."

Both men finished off their supper, if you wanted to call it that at one o'clock in the morning. They decided to crash for a while before getting an early start in the morning. Rick was chomping at the bit to get on the road and home to his Beth. Glen was just happy to be helping – he really was one of the most genuinely considerate people Rick Grimes had ever met.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick had gone over every room in the house, checking closets and behind doors. Glen made took a quick look in the garage and the attic area. They certainly didn't want to leave anything behind because if they did, Rick sure as hell wasn't coming back for it.

"Think we got everything" Glen reported. "Except for that" Glen pointed to Beth's surprise. Rick smiled a big goofy grin. "I'll take that with me" Rick reported "gotta make sure it arrives safe and sound."

There was a knock at the door. Rick had no idea who it might be. He'd already told anyone he cared to talk to goodbye over the past week. He crossed the barren living room to open the front door. There stood President Graves.

Rick simply stared at the man. "Rick" the older man greeted. "I wanted to talk with you before ya left town."

"Well" Rick drawled. "You're just in time – gettin ready to walk out the door."

"Yeh" the man appeared nervous, very nervous. "I wanted to apologize for the way things ended."

Rick just cocked his head sideways a bit and stared at the man. "It was not my intention that you lose your position here. Or for Beth to have to find another collegiate setting. I truly just wanted to make sure that everything was on the up and up."

"Did you really think I'd take advantage of a young woman?" Rick asked in disbelief. "Jesus Christ – I surely thought you held a higher opinion of me than that."

There really wasn't anything Mr. Graves could say to earn Rick's forgiveness at this moment so he just decided to wrap it up. "I am sorry it went the way it did" the man repeated. "If it's any consolation, the Board has asked for my resignation for getting them into this mess in the first place. I'm looking for employment too." The man laughed softly.

"It's not any consolation" Rick told him. "I'm pretty thick skinned, but Beth has been terribly upset by this whole ordeal."

"Good luck to you Rick – good luck to you and Beth" Mr. Graves held out his hand. "I wish you two only the best and again, I offer my sincere apology."

Rick shook the man's hand. "Good luck to you too." Rick closed the door behind the man, then looked to his future brother in-law. "Let's get the fuck outta here." Rick picked up Beth's surprise, tucked it under his arm, and walked out the back door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beth's momma and daddy had made the trip with her that past Wednesday so that Hershel could drive Rick's truck on back to the farm. That left Rick and Glen with only two vehicles to deal with that Friday morning – Glen's car and the small U-Haul Rick had rented for the move. The two men made the usual two hour drive in an hour and a half. Glen was doing the best he could to keep up with Rick in front of him – the man was anxious to get on with the next chapter of his life. They pulled up into the driveway at Rick's new home. All of the lights were on in the house and Annette came out the back door to greet them.

"Well, ya'll are a little earlier than we expected" she smiled at the both of them. Glen gave his mother in-law a hug and so did Rick. Annette kissed both of them on the cheek and patted them as well.

"Jeff Gordon here was in a hurry" Glen joked. "It's a wonder we didn't get pulled over somewhere."

"Now Rick" Annette started in. "You always fuss about everybody else's drivin."

"Where's Beth?" Rick asked as he stepped into the house taking everything in before him. "Is this even the same place?"

Annette laughed. "Beth went home to try and get the paint out of her hair. We just put the last coat on the smallest bedroom. Everything's done – except for the flooring. They're coming today after lunch to start at the back of the house and work their way forward."

"That's all that's left to do?" Glen asked in disbelief. "How'd ya'll get all this done so quickly?"

"Beth called a couple of high school friends to help her with the paintin" Annette explained. "And she bugged the shit outta the plumbers, electricians, and anyone else here workin this past week. They just wanted to get the job done, get paid, and get on with their life I think."

Rick smirked to himself. That girl of his was a force to be reckoned with that was for sure. "I gotta go get something" he told Glen and Annette. Glen started grinning and Annette looked at him as if her were crazy.

"What?" Glen finally asked nervously.

"What are you two up to?" Annette asked him.

"Nothing" Glen answered, but not so convincingly so. Annette just stared at him. "Really" he insisted "We're not up to anything." He wasn't anyway – Rick was, but he wasn't.

Rick walked out to the moving van and texted Beth as he walked.

 **I'm home Baby**. R

 **Oh my gosh!** B

 **When ya coming home?** R

 **OMW** B

 **Hurry. Got an early Christmas gift for my girl.** R

 **OMW – right now!** B

Within minutes, Beth was busting through her own back door. "Where's Rick" she huffed out, very obviously out of breath.

"Why, Beth Greene" Annette said. "Your hair is still wet. You're gonna catch a cold. And then I'm gonna have to put up with a sick Beth over Christmas." Annette stood there with her hands on her hips. Beth noticed that Rick's back was turned to her.

"Hey Baby" Beth squealed as she grabbed Rick from behind. Glen stood there smiling like an idiot and Annette had broken out into a grin as well. Rick turned around and there in his arms was a yellow lab puppy.

"Merry Christmas Beth" Rick told her and held the puppy out for her to take.

"Oh my" Beth said and slapped her hand over her mouth. "He's precious." Beth held out her arms and Rick handed the puppy over to Beth. "Is it a boy?" Beth asked. Rick nodded. "His name is Levi."

"Ohhhh, he's so fluffy" Beth held and snuggled the pup to her face. "And cuddly" she said. Levi nuzzled her back and licked Beth's chin.

"Does Hershel know about this?" Annette sighed.

"Yeh" Rick answered. "I checked with him 'fore I did it." Annette rolled her eyes. Hershel Greene was a sucker for a dog, especially a lab. "Well, I ain't cleanin up after it" Annette tried to sound all negative, which she could never pull off in a million years.

"You won't have to Momma" Beth said. "I'll take care of Levi."

"Mmmhmmmm" Annette said. "Yes, I remember Dusty. And Roscoe. And Mabel."


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own any of the TWD characters.

 **Holiday Happenings**

Maggie and Shawn Michael showed up at the farm around supper time, making a stop at Rick's house first. It was hard to drive past there without wanting to stop because the yard and driveway were full of service and delivery trucks. Maggie was just nosy enough to want to know exactly what was going on. Not to mention that Glen's car was there and she had certainly missed her husband – he'd been away from them since the day before.

"Shawn Michael" Maggie spoke up and looked at her little boy in the rearview mirror. "Wanta stop and see Daddy?"

The little boy's face lit up instantly. "Daddy daddy daddy" he began chanting. Maggie pulled her SUV into the side of the yard and along the main driveway as there really wasn't anywhere else to park. Maggie pulled her son from his car seat and he wrapped his little arms around her neck.

"Oh, Shawn Michael. I see PopPop walking down from his house" Maggie told the boy.

"PopPop PopPop PopPop" became the new chant.

Maggie and Shawn Michael waited in Rick's driveway for Hershel to get there. "Well, there's my big boy" Hershel took a knee and allowed his grandson to climb up into his arms. Hershel nuzzled the boy and tickled him with his beard.

"I'm gonna run in and look at the house" Maggie told her dad. "Have they got much done this week?"

Hershel smiled. "I'd say" He told her. "Laying carpeting in the bedrooms right now. They'll start on the hardwood flooring next – should be move in ready right after Christmas."

Maggie looked surprised. "Well, Daddy" she said "they're not gonna work through the weekend are they? It's a holiday weekend to boot."

"Beth told them the holiday is not until Sunday and Monday" Hershel laughed. "Told em she'd pay em double if they got it done by tomorrow night."

Maggie raised an eyebrow. "She'd pay em double?"

"More like Rick would pay em double" Hershel snorted. "Not sure if he's aware of that yet or not, but" Hershel trailed off. "Shawn Michael? Wanta go in and see what's goin on?" Hershel asked his grandson.

The little boy nodded his head up and down. "Alright, we ain't stayin long though. Beth said for everybody to stay out of the way and let them people do what they're gettin paid to do."

Maggie chuckled at that. She knew her little sister though. Maggie knew that if Beth wanted all of the flooring finished by tomorrow night, then by damn, it would get done.

"Sides" Hershel started talking again. "I believe there's something up at the house you're gonna wanta see." Hershel carried his grandson into the house where Glen stopped what he was doing to love on his boy a little bit. Rick took a few minutes to make a fuss over his cars and trucks buddy too.

"Shawn Michael" Rick called out to him from down the hallway. "I've got something for you." Shawn Michael jumped down out of Glen's arms and took off for Rick.

"What is it? What is it?" the little boy asked.

Rick reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a brand new matchbox car. "It's a 2009 Dodge Challenger. You'll have to hide it from your Daddy. He's been beggin to play with it" Rick laughed.

Shawn Michael looked at the red car still in the package.

"Shawn Michael, what do ya tell Rick?" Hershel prompted.

"Thank you Rick" the little boy politely said. He was trying to figure out how he could get that package open and start playing with the car. Hershel then told the little boy to tell everyone goodbye and he took him back up to the house for some supper and to meet Levi, the newest member of the family. Before walking out the back door, Hershel told Rick that Annette and Beth would bring down supper for everybody in about thirty minutes or so.

"Hey you" Maggie told Glen as they snuggled in the corner of one of the bedrooms.

"Hey" he said and kissed her.

"You're awfully sweaty" she told him. "And smelly" Maggie wrinkled her nose.

"We been working like crazy to try and get this done. Carpet's all down – they've already started on the hardwood in the living room."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Maggie asked.

"I don't know" Glen told her. "We'll check with Rick in a minute. Think after we eat we're going to unload the moving van."

Annette and Beth showed up with supper just as promised – homemade sloppy joes, baked beans, potato chips, and warm brownies from the oven. The guys ate like they were starving and they very well could have been – they'd been there all day long, stopping only for restroom and water breaks and only if Beth wasn't around to see them "slacking off' as she called it.

Annette went on back up to the house to play with her grandson and to keep an eye on the puppy. Hershel promised that he would help but she was fairly certain that he was more than likely already passed out in the recliner. Luckily, Shawn Michael always went down early and he was plenty tired from all the excitement. Beth had also told her nephew that he could sleep with Levi. Maggie and Beth put on their work clothes and made their way back down to Rick's house. Rick and Glen began unloading the UHaul while the sisters unpacked boxes, put things away, and told the guys where to set up furniture. The other men in the house just kept right on installing the flooring.

Way into the wee hours of the morning, the four of them finally decided to sleep for a while. The workers had left around midnight – their job being almost complete. Rick and Beth collapsed in the master bedroom while Glen and Maggie crashed in the smallest bedroom. Rick was asleep before his head even hit the pillow. He had not been sleeping well for weeks - really ever since Beth had left campus. That combined with the fact that he been going nonstop for the past forty eight hours or so made for an exhausted Rick.

The four of them drug up to the house in the morning. Annette had called Beth to see if they were all okay and to let them know that breakfast was ready and waiting for them. Also, Shawn Michael was anxious to see his Momma and Daddy and Beth was anxious to see Levi. Once they all got settled around the kitchen table Hershel asked the blessing and then the questions got underway.

"Well, what's the status of the house?" Hershel wanted to know.

"Everything's ready" Rick reported. "They're coming back at ten this mornin to put on the first coat of sealant on the wood. So, after breakfast, I'll run down and get my clothes – gonna have to stay here for probably at least five days. They'll put the first coat on, it'll dry for forty-eight hours. They'll come back after Christmas and do the second coat."

"We got all the furniture moved into the bedrooms – everything else is in the garage" Glen told everyone. "Maggie and I are gonna return the UHaul after breakfast."

"I'm gonna play with Levi today" Beth figured while everyone was telling what they were going to do she'd share as well.

"Me too!" Shawn Michael chimed in. "Momma, can I have a puppy?"

"No" Maggie answered and kept right on eating.

"Awww, Maggie" Rick said. "Every little boy needs a"

Maggie cut him off mid-sentence with a look that would curl your toenails. Rick and Glen snickered under their breath.

"Have ya talked to Carl?" Annette wanted to know. She was hoping to prevent an altercation between Maggie and Rick.

Rick nodded as he took a big swig of coffee. "Last night right after supper – gonna pick him up Tuesday mornin."

"Oh good" Annette smile. "It'll make me so happy to have everyone home." Rick smiled at the thought of Annette already considering him and Carl to be family. "Now, will we have Carl for Christmas next year?" she asked.

"Momma" Beth said.

"What?" Annette said. "Just wonderin."

"Yes, Ms. Annette" Rick told her. "We get Carl every other Christmas. But that means he won't be with us for Thanksgiving."

"Oh" Annette said, a little bit sadly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day came and went. There was much excitement with a toddler and puppy in the house, not to mention Maggie and Beth. The two of them combined were just as wild as the little boy and Levi. It took longer to clean up all the wrapping paper, boxes, and bags than it did to open everything. They ate like kings and queens all day long. They played card games, watched movies, and stayed up till all hours of the night. They slept in late and took naps whenever they wanted. Maggie and Glen sure dreaded having to go back to work and get back into the real world. They were also disappointed that they wouldn't get to see Carl this go round. As Glen, Maggie, and Shawn Michael were pulling out of the drive to head back home to Atlanta, Rick, Beth, and Levi were going to be driving in the other direction to go pick up Carl.

Beth was a bit nervous about venturing into Lori's territory, but Rick assured her that she had nothing to worry about. Lori was just relieved that she didn't have to do any driving today. Rick was more worried about whether or not Levi was going to behave for the entire ride. They were fifteen minutes down the road when the puppy started to get restless, but Beth seemed to have cast a magic spell on him as she rubbed behind his ears and sang to him. The next thing Rick knew, the dog had grown still and quiet. He glanced over to see Levi sacked out flat on his back being cradled by Beth as if he were an infant.

An hour later, Rick pulled into the black topped drive in front of the Walsh home. Beth looked nervously at Rick. Rick rubbed Beth's chin and pulled her in for a kiss. The puppy roused.

"I bet he needs to potty" Beth said. "Ya think they'll mind if I let Levi use their yard."

"I don't know, but I'd love for him to" Rick laughed out loud.

"Rick" Beth said. "That's not nice."

They all got out of the truck, Beth took Levi to a corner of the yard and Rick made his way up the sidewalk. Lori answered the door.

"Hey Rick" she smiled. "You by yourself?" Lori looked around outside. "I though Beth was coming with you."

"Oh, she did" Rick answered. "She'll be just a sec."

As if on cue, Beth rounded the corner with the puppy under her arm. Lori's eyes lit up when she saw Beth and the puppy. "Shane" she yelled behind her "Ya gotta come see what Beth's got." Lori reached out for the dog and Beth parted with her pet temporarily. "Oh my gosh, he's so cute." Lori held Levi up and looked at his undercarriage. "It is a boy, right?"

"Yeh" Beth giggled. "His name is Levi."

Shane came into the living room to see what Lori was carrying on about it. Judith was tagging along behind her daddy. Shane's eyes lit up about the time Judith let out a squeal. Shane Walsh loved a dog better than anybody. He and Lori had had a chocolate lab at one time, Ruger. Poor Ruger had gotten so old and feeble, they had to put him down a year or so ago. Neither he nor Lori had been quite ready to get a new animal since. "Can I?" Shane asked Beth as he was prying the puppy out of Lori's hands. Judith wanted to pet him too.

Carl came in with a bag and backpack. "What did ya think 'bout the puppy Beth?" Carl asked smiling.

"He's so sweet" she told Carl. "Did you know about it?"

Carl nodded and smiled. "I knew you'd love him" Carl said. "Judith, tell Shane you need a puppy." Carl scruffed the top of Judith's head, messing her hair up. The girl didn't appear to be bothered by Carl's teasing.

"Daddy said we might get a new dog soon" Judith reported. Then, Judith looked to Beth and whispered "I think he's ready to move on from Ruger now." Beth nodded like she understood completely.

"Did you have a nice Christmas Judith?" Beth asked the little girl.

"Yep" she smiled. "Daddy said I wasn't gettin nothing but a lump of coal and some switches."

Beth laughed out loud at that and Rick rolled his eyes. "But I knew he's just full of crap" Judith stated.

That caused both Rick and Beth to laugh.

"Judith Louise" Lori snapped.

"What?" Judith asked innocently. "You say it all the time. Sides, he is."

Carl stepped outside to go put his things into the truck.

"Ya doing okay Rick?" Lori asked. "Ya know, since, well, since leaving the university?"

Rick looked to the floor. "Yeh, actually, I'm real good" he said. "I've got some things in the works and Beth's already registered for classes at the community college." Shane had made no attempt to enter into the conversation. He, Beth, and Judith were busy playing with the puppy. Carl came back into the house.

"I'm ready whenever ya'll are" Carl said.

"Oh, Lori" Beth said. "I hate to ask, but might I use your restroom?"

"Well, of course you can" Lori told her. "Carl show her where it is. Does the puppy need a drink before ya'll leave?"

Shane took that as his cue to get Levi some water in the kitchen. Rick and Carl went on out to the truck. They waited only a few minutes for Beth to return with the puppy and they were on their way back to the farm.


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own any of the TWD characters. Guys, I can't quit with these two – they're just so stinking sweet together.

 **New Year – New Things**

 **Part 1**

Carl had a big New Year's Eve party he wanted to get back home for, so Rick was going to take him on home Saturday afternoon. Lori insisted, however, that she would come and pick him up. Rick knew deep down that she really wanted to see his new place. That was fine with Rick – he kind of wanted Lori to know that he might be down right now, but he certainly wasn't out. He was also aware that Carl had a social life that didn't include hanging around with his old man, so if Carl needed to cut his visit short by a day or two that was okay. Rick strongly suspected that someone of the female persuasion was probably involved. Rick had taken the time to have "the talk" with Carl again this visit. Yes, there's was lots of eye rolling and "God Dad", but Rick felt it was necessary. Lord knows, he didn't want Carl ending up in a marriage he wasn't ready for. Rick, himself, was living proof that those usually didn't work out.

Beth had made herself plenty scarce most of the week so that Rick and Carl could have their time together. Beth didn't have to work the next two weeks – she followed the local school's schedule – so she'd been helping her mother get all of the Christmas decorations taken down and packed up. According to Hershel, it was a bigger ordeal than the actual decorating that took place before Christmas. There was usually screaming, and cussing, and fighting, and crying. Annette and Beth both thought they knew the best way to do things and neither one was shy about voicing their opinion or trying to force it on the other.

"I usually make myself invisible" he mumbled to Rick "just show up when it's all boxed up and ready to be put back into barn storage room."

Rick appreciated the fact that Beth was giving him time with his son, but damn, he had sure missed hugging up on her every night. Rick had spent time with Beth every day of course, but not to the extent that either of them wanted. Beth had said that she wanted Carl to have an opportunity to get used to his new home without her hovering around. Again, it was one of the things that Rick loved about Beth – she was always willing to put others before herself. But, he had certainly missed not being with her.

Beth had something going in the crockpot for supper that night – she had promised that it would just be her and him tonight, no interruptions and no one else – except Levi, of course. Hershel and Annette were going to be busy packing. They'd be leaving right after church the next day to spend the week in Atlanta at Glen and Maggie's house. Shawn Michael's daycare was closed for one more week so they were going to babysit their grandson.

Rick didn't know what Beth was cooking, but it smelled amazing. And, she had promised him a cheesecake for New Year's Eve the next night. Beth had smuggled all the ingredients for tonight's supper from her momma and daddy's house. Well, she hadn't really smuggled it, but the ingredients certainly hadn't come from Rick's house. Their house. That sounded funny, but it also sounded so right. Tonight would be the first night that Beth would stay there.

Yes, they'd had to sit down and "talk it out" with Hershel and Annette. That was probably one of the most awkward conversations Rick Grimes had ever had the displeasure of having, and not that he'd contributed much to the conversation. It went something like this.

Hershel – I really don't like the idea of Beth moving in down there. It just ain't proper.

Beth – Daddy.

Annette – Hershel, would you rather them have sex under your roof or theirs?

Rick – Uh

Hershel – I'd rather them not have sex.

Beth – Daddy

Annette – That's ridiculous. You know they are. You and I moved in together before we were married.

Rick – Uh

And on and on it went. Fifteen minutes into a conversation headed nowhere, Beth stood up from the table, and announced "I'm movin in Rick's. He's going on 40 years old for goodness sakes and I'm not really a child anymore. Besides, if he gets on with the sheriff's department, then he's gonna be gone for weeks at a time for the academy anyway. I'll be there by myself – not having sex with anybody."

Annette snorted, Hershel grimaced, and once again Rick Grimes found himself in the position of wanting the ground to simply open and swallow him up whole. Rick was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard Lori pull up in the drive. Rick didn't even know she was on the place until she knocked at the back door. He went to let her in.

"Carl told me to come to the back door – I hope that's okay" she said. Rick didn't miss Lori's eyes roaming all over the place.

There was a guy in the sunroom installing a doggie door for Levi. He wasn't a plumber, but his ass crack was showing nonetheless. They were putting up baby gates between the sunroom and the rest of the house. That would be Levi's place when no one else was at home. Beth said she couldn't bear the thought of him being stuck in a crate all day and she wanted him to have access to the small fenced in area whenever he needed it. Of course, Rick was quickly learning that Beth usually got what she wanted.

"Of course it's okay" Rick told her. "Would ya like to see the house?" Rick asked. He already knew the answer to that question.

"You bet I do" Lori answered. "It's absolutely darling" she said. "Fresh paint?" Lori asked.

Rick nodded. "Whole house - Beth and a couple of her friends did it all in a week."

"Wow" Lori responded. "New carpet?" she asked.

Rick nodded yes. "New hardwood flooring too – gutted the bathrooms and kitchen."

"It's just beautiful Rick" Lori told him.

"It's a rental that Hershel and Annette never had the heart to get rid of" Rick told her. "Lucky for me, right?"

"I guess so" Lori smiled. Levi was following them from room to room as Rick gave her the quick tour. She finally bent down and picked up the puppy, snuggling him up to her face, and giving him plenty of baby talk.

"This is Carl's room" Rick pointed out as they walked by. Carl was in the floor cramming stuff into his backpack.

"Hey Mom" Carl yelled. He had headphones in and didn't realize he was screaming apparently. She and Rick exchanged looks and laughed.

"Where is the lady of the house?" Lori asked.

"Grocery store" Rick answered. "I offered to go with her, but she wanted that doggie door installed today and the guy wouldn't come if no one was here."

"She typically get what she wants?" Lori asked – and that was a question that Lori already knew the answer to.

Rick paused only for a few seconds before answering. "Yep" he smiled. "Pretty much so."

"Well" Lori said. "Good for her." And Rick could tell that Lori was being genuine – there was no animosity or sarcasm in her comment.

"Rick, I love the house. It's perfect" Lori told him. "You look really happy. Are you?"

"Happiest I think I've ever been" Rick didn't want to hurt her feelings but it was the truth.

"I'm happy for you Rick" Lori told him "I really am. "

Lori gave the puppy some more loving before setting him back down. "Carl" she yelled and knocked on the teen's bedroom door. "We need to get on the road."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beth must have passed Lori on the highway because it was only minutes later that she arrived at the back door with a car loaded down with groceries. The trunk was full and so was the back seat. Rick jogged out to help start hauling stuff in.

"Oh my God Beth" Rick teased. "Did you buy the whole damn store?"

"Well" she nibbled at her lip. "We needed everything. I mean everything – flour, sugar, corn meal, salt, pepper. Well, everything."

She must have bought everything they had to offer. There was a mop and a broom, cleaning supplies, paper products – Rick wondered, but only momentarily, what kind of hit his debit card must have just taken.

"How much did ya spend?" Rick asked cautiously.

"Do you really want to know?" Beth winced.

"Yeh, cause I need to know if I should transfer some money to cover it" Rick laughed.

"Right at five hundred dollars" Beth finally confessed.

"Oh God" Rick said. "Okay. Wow" That was a lot of money to spend at the grocery store. Damn. "Hey, what time is supper gonna be ready?"

"Oh, I'd say we've got another three hours. Why? Ya hungry?" she asked.

"Naw" Rick told her. "I'm good. I just need to go do something real quick."

"Okay" Beth kissed him on the lips. "Well, you go take care of your business and I'll take care of gettin all this put away." Beth looked around at all the bags that covered every kitchen counter. There were bags on the floor and there were bags piled on the couches in the great room. Everywhere you looked, there was a bag. Levi was so excited nosing through all the bags. It didn't take the puppy long to find the treats that Beth had bought for him. "I'll probably still be puttin stuff away when ya get back."

Rick backed Beth up into the kitchen counter, then he looked to make sure the carpenter working in the sunroom wasn't watching. "I love you so much" Rick told her as he kissed up and down her neck. "Can't wait to get home and get started"

"Get started?" Beth wondered aloud.

"Yeh" Rick smiled up at her. "Get started on our life – tonight."

"I love you Rick" Beth told him and kissed him slowly and passionately. Rick reluctantly pulled away knowing that he had to get up to Hershel's and talk to him before it was too late. Rick needed to talk to him before he left town for the week and he knew that this would probably be his last chance for at least a week.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beth had already told Rick the night before that they needed to go to church services the next day. Her daddy was still a little outdone with all of them for ganging up against him in the whole Beth moving in with Rick debate. Rick wanted to argue that he really hadn't been a legitimate participant in the debate because basically all he did was look mortified and say uuuuhhh.

Regardless, Rick got up early the next morning, shaved his stubble and got ready for church. "I'm assuming we're headed to a Southern Baptist church" he hollered at Beth. She was trying to decide between a dress and a pair of fancy smancy black flowy pants type things.

"Yeh" she yelled back. "Momma's Southern Baptist – Daddy's Catholic" Beth told him. She stepped into the bathroom and turned the shower on so that the water would get hot. "Us kids grew up Southern Baptist though."

"How'd they decide which church to go to?" Rick asked Beth. She shimmied out of her pajamas and Rick moaned internally at the sight before him, remembering what all he'd done to her the night before when she was trying to get those pajamas on.

Beth laughed. "Momma always gets her way – always has" Beth told him and then she pulled the shower curtain to.

"Hmmmm" Rick said to himself. "Well, I know where she gets it now."

Rick sat at the kitchen table drinking his first cup of coffee and looking over the paper. He'd been church ready for thirty minutes now and he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Beth. He looked down at his watch and wondered how much time they had to spare – probably not much. Rick walked down to their bedroom to check on her status.

"Hey" he stuck his head in the bathroom. There he saw all manner of bottles, jars, and electrical appliances. There were these round things rolled up in Beth's hair with spiky U shaped things holding them in. She looked like some sort of alien. "What are ya doin?"

"What?" she asked.

"What the hell is that in your hair?" Rick asked.

"Hot rollers" Beth answered him like it was the most obvious thing in the whole world. She didn't realize that it had been a while since Rick had cohabited and he didn't have any daughters so of course, he had no idea what they were.

"Shouldn't we be on our way at this point?" he asked. "I sure don't wanta be late."

"I'm almost ready" Beth huffed out and rolled her eyes.

 _Damn_ Rick thought to himself. _What the hell was that all about_?

Beth eventually came down the hallway and she had decided on the pants outfit – flowing black pants that could be taken as a skirt from the right angle. She'd chosen a cheetah print wrap top that was very form fitting. Her hair was pulled back away from her face but down and in loose, wavy curls. Her shoes had three inch heels and Rick hoped to goodness that Beth wouldn't twist an ankle. The sight of her, finally all put together, took his breathe away.

"Oh my God Beth" Rick sighed. "You're just absolutely beautiful."

She blushed as Rick twirled her around to get a better look at his beautiful woman. "Thank you" she said. "We better go" Beth told him. "We should be able to walk in at the last minute so that the entire congregation can get a look at the man puttin it to Hershel Greene's baby girl." They both cackled out loud because they knew that's exactly what everyone would be thinking.

Yep, church was about like what Rick was expecting. Well, not quite. Apparently, there was a church across the road from the Greene's home church and their furnace had gone out over the weekend, so they joined in with them that day for services. That was no big deal. It was also no big deal that it was a mostly black congregation – it meant the music was rocking that particular Sunday. Church members from both congregations mingled and sat together. A distinguished looking gentleman and his wife – sat with Hershel and Annette. The two couples acted as if they'd known each other forever and maybe they had Rick thought. Rick and Beth weren't quite late, but the pastor was just getting ready to make the weekly announcements when they walked in and took the pew in front of Beth's momma and daddy. Rick could feel every eye in the place track them to their seats.

After church services, Rick and Beth turned to speak with her Momma and Daddy because they knew that Hershel and Annette would be leaving for Atlanta just as soon as they could get out of the parking lot. Beth had a notepad out and Hershel was busy giving Beth final instructions for Wednesday. Some of the neighbors were coming to help work cattle and Beth was in charge of getting the vaccination supplies and making final contact with the vet. Rick had never in his entire life worked cattle and he was nervous as hell about it. Beth assured him that if she could do it, then he could too.

And then, out of the blue Hershel turned to Rick. "Oh, Rick" and then he looked to the gentleman that had sat with him through the service. "This is Jim Starks" Hershel introduced the man to him. Rick offered his hand. "He's the sheriff here in our county." Rick nearly shit himself right there. How in the hell had Hershel Greene not mentioned that he was friends with the sheriff. He'd told him that he knew a guy that knew a guy that would be able to make a hiring decision.

"Jim" Hershel continued. "This here is Rick Grimes – he's my baby girl's fella. We think an awful lot of him."

The sheriff shook Rick's hand and shook it firmly. "Well, Mr. Grimes" he said "I have to say, I've read a lot about you – gone through all of your paperwork already and I'm very impressed."

Rick ducked his chin at the man. "Thank you for saying so Mr. Starks" Rick said.

"Do you and Beth have plans for lunch?" the man asked. Hershel made his eyes big at Rick. Rick figured it was his way of telling him ya better go out to eat with this man.

"No sir we do not" Rick told him. Beth's head snapped to attention.

"How 'bout we meet up at the BBQ joint down the road?" Jim asked Rick "I don't have a single open spot to interview this week, but I got all afternoon today."

"Be happy to" Rick told him. "Fifteen minutes sound good?"

"Rick" Beth said quietly, but loud enough for Mr. Starks to hear her "We need to stop at the house and let the puppy out for a few minutes first." Beth smiled at Mr. Starks and then directed the next statement to him. "New puppy – he needs to go out."

"Of course he does" Mr. Starks smiled. "We know all about that."

His wife laughed, "Yes, we certainly do."

"Thirty minutes better for ya'll?" Mr. Starks asked.

"Yes Sir" Beth answered. "We'll meet ya there."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once they were in Beth's car, Rick explained to Beth that this was most likely his job interview. He asked Beth if she was okay to do this.

"Of course Rick" she said seeming to be completely unflustered. "Rick, I can talk to anybody in any situation. You'll soon learn that I'm gonna be your best cheerleader. Wherever you go, I go."

And Beth did not disappoint. She discussed food, recipes, and cooking with Mrs. Starks. They talked about Beth's college plans and they talked about the Starks' children – all adults and out of the house. It was a very pleasant experience and Rick felt good about his "interview". Mr. Starks told Rick that he'd get with him this week to let him know something for sure but that he'd probably best go ahead and clear four months in his schedule for the academy.


	14. Chapter 14

I do not own any of the TWD characters. SMUT warning! And it's a bit long.

 **New Year – New Things**

 **Part 2**

Walking into the house Rick and Beth found Levi catching a nap. Rick held his finger to his lips "shhhh" and began to loosen his tie. Making his way back to the bedroom, Rick stopped halfway down the hall before looking back at Beth.

"What'ya doin?" Rick asked Beth with a silly grin.

"Nothing" Beth answered. "What're you doing?"

"I don't know for sure, but I think I might need some help" he remarked.

"Mmmm, grown man, Army veteran, needs my help?" Beth said. "Sounds like a trap – my Momma warned me about situations like this."

Rick walked back to where Beth still stood and took her by the hand. "Did she now?" Rick said as he pulled Beth into his arms. "I need ya Beth" he murmured into her hair.

"You do?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yeh" Rick replied. "I do."

"I need you too" Beth whispered.

Rick pulled Beth by the hand to their bedroom where they proceeded to strip out of their Sunday clothes just as fast as they could. "Ya make sure the gate to the sunroom was closed?" Rick asked.

"Yep" Beth said as she tossed her heels into the closet. Before Rick knew it, Beth was standing there in a matching bra and panty set.

"Never seen those" Rick smiled and ran his hand down her side causing Beth to shiver, "New?"

"Maggie got it for me for Christmas" Beth nodded and blushed. "Said there wasn't any sense in me looking like a teeny bopper anymore."

Rick got tickled at that, because shit, she was a teenager. "Well, I'll have to remember and thank Maggie because I'm sure enjoying the gift. I didn't see ya open it though."

Beth gasped, "Are you kiddin? Can you imagine what my daddy woulda done if I opened this up in front of him? Even Maggie knows better than to do something that stupid."

"I really do like it" Rick whispered as he was unfastening the bra. "I like it a lot" Rick shot the bra across the room like a slingshot.

"I'm glad" Beth giggled. "She got me several colors. We'll just have to see which set is your favorite."

Rick growled into Beth's neck and gently pushed her to the bed. "Leave the panties on" he told her "for now."

Rick crawled up between Beth's legs and began to place open mouthed kisses to her neck. They really didn't talk much, instead they just kissed and explored each other's bodies. This part of their relationship was still so new to them. Beth ran her fingers over the very well defined muscles in Rick's shoulders and back. Rick caressed Beth's small breasts – they were perfect handfuls he'd told her – absolutely perfect. Rick decided to put a few little love marks on those breasts. He would enjoy thinking about how he'd marked her. Rick eventually made his way down to those panties. When he blew his hot breathe onto the black lace, Beth could barely control herself much longer.

"Rick" she moaned.

"Mmmhmmm" he said as his tongue found its way into those lace panties after he'd pulled them off of her.

"I wanta try something" she stuttered.

"Okay" Rick laughed. "I'm always ready to try something with you Girl."

"Lay down" Beth ordered.

"Yes Mam" Rick did as he was told. Beth snaked her hands up to his boxer briefs and pulled them off – she then sat up on her knees to take in the sight of Rick Grimes in front of her, fully at attention. "That for me?" she asked.

"Every bit of it" Rick grinned back at her. She'd never been on top, and wanted to give it a try. Beth crawled up onto Rick and straddled him.

"Now, remember" Beth paused "I don't know what I'm doing."

"Oh, you know full well what you're doin" Rick countered. Beth slowly and gently impaled herself on Rick's hard member. Rick groaned out – fuck, he'd never felt anything that felt as good as this woman did. "Beth" he ground out.

"Now what?" Beth smiled.

"You're a cowgirl" Rick teased. "You know what to do." Beth began to move and quickly fell into a comfortable rhythm. She couldn't believe the difference this angle made in how deep she could feel Rick. At one point, Rick began thrusting up into Beth as she kept grinding away on him.

"Oh God Rick" Beth blew out. "This is so good – it's so good" she said. It was good – so good, but Rick could only let Beth have complete control for so long. He pulled Beth to lie flat on him, then in one swift motion flipped them over so that he was now hovering over her. The abruptness of the action took Beth by surprise and she let out a little shriek.

"Baby, any way I can get this is good – any. Fuckin. Way. I. can. Get. This. Loving is good." Rick knew that he was going to explode at any moment, so he really began pounding into Beth.

"Oh Rick" Beth's breathing was coming in short little gasps and he could tell that she was right on the edge as well.

"Cum on Baby" Rick ordered. "I know you're ready. Cum on!"

And that's all it took. Beth screamed out. Good Lord, Rick was glad to be in his own house with no neighbors anywhere around. Her screaming and the wet all over his dick was all he needed. He came deep inside of Beth and she wrapped her legs around his torso refusing to let him pull out of her.

"Stay" she said "just stay."

"Ain't goin nowhere" he told her. "Ain't goin nowhere."

They both must have needed a Sunday afternoon nap because they dozed off pretty quickly. Only the soft yapping of Levi woke them. "Hey" Rick nudged Beth. "Hey, the puppy's callin for ya."

"Nuhuh" Beth rolled over away from Rick. "He's callin for his Daddy."

"Naw, I'm pretty sure he's whinin for his Momma" Rick laughed.

Rick gave in first and put his boxers back on to go check on the puppy. When he returned, he had Levi in his arms and tossed the pup into the bed with Beth. Rick piled on the bed as well and got Beth in a bear hug.

"Oh my gosh Rick" Beth squealed. "You're cold. Did ya go outside without any clothes on?"

"Sure did" Rick boasted. "Wadn't a soul out there to see me either. I could get used to this country livin."

"You're crazy" she laughed. Beth got up out of the bed leaving both Levi and Rick to wonder where she was going. Rick finally asked, "Where ya goin?" Beth stepped into the restroom and began to freshen up a bit. She came back into the bedroom wearing a pair of blue jeans and a sweatshirt and she was pulling her hair back in a pony.

"We need to run into town and get to Tractor Supply before they close" Beth told Rick.

"They open on Sunday?" he asked.

"Yep" Beth said.

"It's New Year's Eve" Rick reminded.

"Don't matter – people got farmin business to tend to everyday of the year City Boy" Beth smiled and tossed some jeans his way. "Sides, you've got to have some muck boots – you'll never survive Wednesday without em."

"Ya sure ya'll want me out there" Rick asked. "I ain't gonna be much use."

"You're not gettin out of it Rick" Beth told him with her hands on her hips. "Everybody's gotta work cows – even Momma works cows."

"I just can't picture Annette out there with the cows" Rick scoffed.

"Well, she works cows with the best of em" Beth said. "Usually, she loads the syringes and I shoot em up."

Rick grimaced at the thought. "God, what do ya shoot em up with?"

"Different things – depends what time of the year it is. Could be vaccine – could be an antibiotic" Beth told him. This was really going to take Rick out of his comfort zone, but he was willing to do whatever Beth told him to do. Surely to goodness he wouldn't make too big a fool of himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ya sure we can take a dog into the Tractor Supply store?" Rick asked Beth for the third time in fifteen minutes. Beth looked over at Rick with a look that said _what in the world_ _is your problem_.

"Of course ya can" Beth answered as she nuzzled Levi's face up to her own. "Don't let me forget I need a pair of muck boots too – think I threw my old ones out."

Rick just glanced over at her. "Why'd ya throw em out?"

Beth smiled. "Got cow shit down inside em" she stated simply. "You can hose it off the outside of your boots, but getting shit down inside my boots is where I draw the line."

"Aw, that's where ya draw the line is it?" Rick teased.

In all seriousness Beth answered, "Sure as hell is."

The first section they hit up was the pet section. Rick was pretty sure that there were no pet items on that mile long list Beth had. Beth was still holding Levi as she browsed the selection of collars, harnesses, and leashes. Finding something to her liking, she tossed all of the items into the buggy. Next, Beth and Levi moved on to the doggie beds. Beth selected two and put them on the floor. She put Levi down on the floor as if to say "go pick the one you want". Rick rolled his eyes and looked around the store to see if anyone was looking at them. There were plenty of people milling about, but no one seemed to be paying much attention to them.

There were a couple of younger guys that looked to be hunters. They were slinging bags of deer corn into their shopping cart. An older couple was up in the gift section of the store – a section that Rick wanted to avoid if at all possible. The lady was going on and on about which napkins the neighbor girl that was getting married next month would prefer. The husband just kept nodding and shrugging, shrugging and nodding. Around the corner was the toy display and there were two little red headed boys playing with the miniature cows and horses and pigs. One boy was pulling a tiny wagon loaded with hay while the other marched the cows behind it. Rick smiled at the simplicity of it all. As he stood there staring at the two boys he could imagine those two children being his and Beth's – maybe a blonde or dark haired boy and girl though, with curls and blue eyes and knobby knees – probably bruised and cut up knees if his experience with Beth so far had taught him anything.

"Rick" Beth called. "Rick" she called out a little louder seeing that he had zoned out completely. Rick turned to see what she was needing.

"Yeh Babe" he asked.

Beth held up two different boots. "Ya want plain black or camo?" Levi was now in the cart lying on top of his dog bed and looking like royalty as Beth pushed him through the store. Lifting a pair from the seat of the cart she said, "I'm getting these with the purple flowers!" Beth smiled as if she had the best thing in the whole wide world.

Rick chuckled at his girl. Leave it to her to get something girly to go walk around in cow shit in. "I'll take the Mossy Oak" Rick finally answered.

"What size ya need?" Beth half shouted across the store. She'd already turned to go back to the boots and shoes. Rick followed after her – he didn't care to share his shoe size with everyone in the store. What was with this girl and the yelling? Her mom yelled all the time. She yelled all the time. Hershel didn't yell. No, Hershel just instigated – he seemed to take great pride in getting the women of the house in an uproar. Rick laughed to himself thinking what a good natured soul Hershel Greene must be to have put up with Maggie, Annette, and Beth throughout the years. And all that damn hollering. Maybe Hershel was deaf and that's why the women yelled all the time.

Before they'd gotten out of there, they each had a pair of boots. Levi had several toys, a dog bed, and a new collar and leash. There were boxes and boxes of stuff that they had actually needed to get for the cattle working day. Rick had no idea what any of it was for, but he had a feeling that he would get a crash course come Wednesday. He'd asked her what the rubber band looking things were for and she'd simply laughed in his face – laughed at him.

"Seriously" Rick said. "What are they for?" he asked again as he looked at one of the bands he'd taken out of the box. "They're awfully small."

The girl at the cash register looked at Beth and smiled. "I'll tell you later" Beth told Rick, trying her best to get him to shut up.

"And what's this thing for?" Rick asked. He had started putting things onto the conveyer belt. "Looks like some kind of torture device" Rick said to no one in particular as he held the silver contraption up to the light. He squeezed the handles back and forth.

That was all Beth and the checkout girl could take – they both erupted into a fit of giggles. Beth couldn't wait until Wednesday when she demonstrated to Rick how to deball a calf with that torture device and castration bands. Beth whipped out the farm card to pay for all the purchases and Rick loaded everything back into the cart – they'd had to transfer Levi to the passenger part of the shopping cart.

"I'll pick you up in just a second Sweet Puppy" Beth told the dog. Rick snorted quietly to himself. If he hadn't gotten that good loving this afternoon he just might lean a bit toward jealousy with this dog. Once in the parking lot and at Rick's truck, they began to load the purchases into the back.

"I think I'll run over to the sandwich shop and grab some supper" Beth told Rick.

"Alright, I'll drive over and pick you up" Rick told her. Beth put Levi in the front cab of the truck and jogged over to the restaurant. Rick quickly took the cart to the nearest corral.

Beth came out with their supper in a couple of paper bags to a visibly shaken and pale Rick. "What in the world happened to you?" she asked him.

"Oh my God Beth" Rick exclaimed. "We're not castrating cows Wednesday are we?" He held up his phone – waving it around in the air. The poor thing had finally pieced it all together and he'd spent his time waiting on Beth by looking up youtube videos.


	15. Chapter 15

I do not own any of the TWD characters.

 **What Time is It?**

"This is the best meatball sub I've ever had" Rick exclaimed as he tried to get the melted mozzarella dangling from his chin.

"I like that they toast the bread first" Beth added. She was not even attempting to wipe her mouth, which made Rick very uncomfortable. When he could no longer resist the urge to do so, he took his napkin and wiped at her face. Beth giggled when he did so and Rick thought she was absolutely adorable. Why did this girl never realize that she had food all over her?

"So, I thought we could just veg out in front of the TV tonight" Beth said. "Maybe do some kissin and stuff at midnight." Beth smiled at her fella.

"What kind of stuff?" Rick smirked.

"I don't know" Beth laughed. "Whatever kind of stuff someone does at midnight on New Year's Eve."

"This sounds like it's gonna be the best New Year's Eve I've ever had" Rick told her.

"What do you normally do?" Beth asked innocently.

"Well, a couple of times I went out on a date" Rick confessed. "They were awful. I just always felt so on edge, like they were expecting something fantastic to happen at midnight. Course I was just watching the clock so that I could hurry up and take them home."

"What about when you and Lori were together?" Beth asked. "What kind of stuff did ya'll do on New Year's Eve?"

"Oh, God!" Rick sighed. "Holidays with Lori were exhausting. We always had to go here, go there, see these people, put in an appearance at this place."

"Maybe she just wanted to show you off" Beth playfully suggested.

"I don't know what it was" Rick said thoughtfully. "One year, I'd only been home for a week – got home from the desert just in time for Christmas and was going to have to leave back out the day after New Year's."

Beth nodded her head slightly to let Rick know that she was still listening to him. Rick paused for a few seconds. "All I wanted was to rest and spend time with my family – Carl was maybe five at the time and I'd already missed out on so much."

Beth rubbed Rick's arm gently, urging him to go on. "I told Lori I just wanted to stay home" Rick recalled. "She damn near took the roof off the place. I guess she'd drawn the proverbial line in the sand and neither of us was budging. I stayed in and kept Carl. She went out dancing and partying."

"Are you kidding me?" Beth asked quietly. Rick shook his head no.

"That shoulda been my first clue that things weren't gonna end well for us" Rick summarized.

"I'm sorry Rick" Beth told him.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about Babe" Rick smiled at her and kissed her on the lips. "I love you."

"Love you" Beth murmured into his lips when she kissed him back.

"That cheesecake ready?" Rick asked.

"I believe it is" Beth replied. "Want me to check?"

Rick smiled at Beth with a look that said something to the effect of what the heck kind of question is that? Beth hopped up from the couch to check on the dessert while Rick took Levi out for what was hopefully the last time for the night. It was cold and damp out and Rick was not a fan of standing in the mist waiting on the pup to tend to his business.

When Rick and Levi returned indoors, Beth had found something on TV to watch and had already started on her cheesecake. There was a plate with Rick's portion on the coffee table.

"Hope ya like cherry topping on yours" Beth said. "I didn't think to ask before spooning it on there. I can get you another piece if ya don't like it."

"Mmmmmm" Rick smiled and slapped his hands together. "That looks amazing – perfect even. Thank ya Baby."

Beth's phone buzzed and she looked down to the screen.

"Hello" she answered. "Hey Mama – how's Shawn Michael?" Beth listened to Annette retell all of the antics the little boy had gotten involved in just since they'd been there that afternoon. At one point, Shawn Michael got on the phone himself to talk to Bef. Then he wanted to talk to Ick.

Rick laughed and reluctantly put his cake down so that he could talk to the boy, or more like listen to the toddler rattle on and on about something he really couldn't understand. Every now and then he'd catch the word car, or cow, or Pop Pop.

Beth eventually rescued Rick by taking the phone from him and telling her nephew to put Pop Pop on the phone. "Hey Daddy" Beth said "Yeh, we got everything on the list." She listened to her dad for a few seconds. "How many ya want to go to market?" she asked. More talking on the other end of the phone. "So, at least a dozen but not more than twenty?" she asked for clarification. "Okay, I'll let Otis make the final call on that."

Rick returned to his dessert, flipped the channels to find something half way decent to watch, and continued to halfway listen to Beth's conversation. He noticed Beth smiling quite a bit.

"Yes, we picked up a box of bands" Beth punched Rick in the arm and pointed to his groin area. Rick grimaced and thought he might lose the cake he'd just eaten. "How many ya think we'll have to castrate?" Beth listened to her daddy. "That many huh?" Beth began to snicker. "No, I can handle it – I remember how to do it."

Beth talked a few more minutes and then Rick could tell that she was wrapping up the phone call. "Love you too Daddy. Okay – see ya'll next weekend."

Rick volunteered to clean up the kitchen from their supper. There wasn't much to do but throw out the trash from the sandwiches, put the leftover dessert into the fridge, and start the dishwasher. Beth took advantage of Rick's generosity and decided to take a long soak in the tub. Rick stepped into the bathroom, but knocked first. She thought it odd that he would do that after everything they'd done so far, but realized how sweet and what a gentleman Rick truly was.

"Hey Beth" Rick stepped in timidly. "What about all that stuff in the truck?" he asked "ya know for working cattle Wednesday. Can it stay out in the truck or should I take it to the barn and unload it? Tell me what to do with it and I'll take care of it."

Beth thought a minute. "Well, all of Levi's stuff" the dog perked up when he heard his name. He had joined Beth in the bathroom and was playing with an empty shampoo bottle. "Bring it into the living room. Levi can sleep in his new bed tonight. Can't ya Levi?" The puppy wagged his tail and jumped to a standing position at the side of the tub.

"We might oughta bring the cattle stuff in – not sure how cold it's supposed to get" Beth finally decided. "Just stack it on the table in the mud room. That way it'll be right at the back door when we need it Wednesday – we'll load it back up when we leave out that morning."

"Okay" Rick replied "I'll take care of it." Rick turned to leave the bathroom but got an idea. "Need me to wash your back?"

Beth quirked an eyebrow at him. Rick didn't wait for a reply – he started stripping out of his clothes, kicked his boots off, and then snatched up Levi to place him in the bedroom before closing the bathroom door. Rick stepped into the bath to sit behind Beth. He hissed when he realized that the water was damn near the boiling point.

"God Dang Beth" he laughed. "How can ya stand the water this hot?"

"Oh, it feels so good" Beth purred. There was a mountain of bubbles surrounding Beth and Rick was attempting to make himself his own bubble nest.

"Hand me the soap" Rick growled into Beth's ear "and I'll get your back." Beth followed instructions and could barely keep the pleasurable gasps to a non-embarrassing volume.

"That's nice Rick" she whispered. "You are so thoughtful. And gentle" she added. "How are you so perfect?"

"I ain't perfect Beth" Rick admitted. "Far from it. I just know I like makin you feel good and makin sure you're always safe. Happy. Taken care of." Beth leaned back into Rick's chest and that's when he took the opportunity to soap up the front of Beth eliciting squeals of delight from her when he tweaked each nipple. Next he ran his hand all the way down to rub on Beth's most intimate area – slowly spreading her lips and pressing two fingers up into her warmth.

"God Beth" Rick breathed into her ear "I love you. Love your body. I love that you're mine – love it so much." Beth came unglued at that point, gasping and screaming Rick's name. That's how the two of them ended up in the floor on the fluffy bathroom rug. Rick and Beth were both dripping wet and covered in bubbles that flew around the room as Rick slammed into her over and over again.

With their bathroom shenanigans over, they decided to take a shower together – a real shower to wash the bubble residue and sex off of them. While Beth dried her hair Rick set to the task of unloading the truck like he had intended on doing earlier. When Rick finally got his chores done, he returned to the living room to find his Beth in leggings, one of his sweatshirts, and big fluffy socks. She was piled up on the couch underneath a quilt that she'd drug from the bedroom.

"Hey" she called to Rick. "I made us some popcorn and there's a good western coming on."

"Alright" Rick smiled and crossed the room. Beth noticed that he was wearing his camo muck books.

"They look good" Beth laughed. Rick stomped around the room to show them off.

"Kinda feel funny" Rick told her. "Might have to wear them around the house the next couple of days to break em in."

They both settled under the blanket with the big bowl of popcorn. Beth had made sure to bring a towel and Rick was grateful for that since the popcorn seemed to be dripping with butter.

"Ya like butter on your popcorn?" Rick asked.

"Mmmmhmmmm" Beth said as she sucked the excess from her fingers. "Momma always fusses 'cause I put too much butter on."

The only light came from the television and a small lamp that Beth left on in the kitchen. Rick had a hard time concentrating on the movie, even though it was one of his favorites. Rick's eyes kept darting to the clock on the wall and he would flip the channel over to see what time it was in New York. Beth couldn't help but notice that the later it got, the more on edge Rick became.

Finally she had to ask. "Are you okay?" she inquired.

"Of course I'm okay" Rick answered quickly. Too quickly. "I'm gonna take the dog out."

"He's asleep" Beth told him. "I don't think he even needs to go out."

"I gotta go out" Rick said. Rick got up from the couch, put his camo boots on, and fled out the back door. He seemed to be gone forever and Beth was starting to become concerned. Rick finally returned and Beth felt a sense of relief.

"I's startin to get worried 'bout you" Beth told Rick.

"I'm fine" Rick said. "What time is it?"

Beth punched a button on the TV remote to check the time on the screen. "It's 11:58. Why, you takin medicine or something?" Beth laughed at her own joke but Rick didn't see the humor in it. He stalked down the hallway and then came right back with a gift in his hands. Upon his return to the living room he sat on the couch beside Beth and handed her the box. It was wrapped in gold and silver paper with an ornate silver ribbon.

"What's this" Beth smiled. A New Year's Eve gift? This is a tradition she could get used to. Beth pulled the card from the package and opened it first, removing a card with hand lettering on the front. It read, _**If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do is to save every day till eternity passes away, just to spend them with you.**_

Beth was at a loss for words and looked to Rick who had not taken his eyes off of her. "Open the box Beth" Rick urged.

Beth quickly removed the paper from the gift. Inside the box was an antique hour glass made of carved wood. It was a beautiful piece. "It's amazing" Beth looked to Rick who had dropped to one knee. She wasn't sure that this could be happening, but it was. Here she was wearing leggings, an oversized shirt covered in butter and popcorn kernels, her hair a tangled mess and the man she loved was on one knee. Rick was on one knee with a jewelry box held out as an offering.

"Beth" he began. "That moment I took you into my arms for that dance" he paused. "I knew. I knew that you were the one that I was meant to spend the rest of my time here on earth with. I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving that to you – marry me. Say you'll marry me."

"Rick Grimes" Beth said softly. "You don't have a thing in the world to prove to me." Beth wrapped her arms around Rick's neck and began to kiss him passionately. Rick returned the kiss, running his tongue along the seam of her lips. Beth opened to him and their tongues teased each other's. "I love you. Love you so much" she said through tears.

"Is that a yes?" Rick asked as he nipped at her bottom lip.

Beth giggled. "Yes" she said shyly. Beth pulled away from Rick to actually look at the ring as he placed it delicately on her finger.

"Yes?" Rick asked. "Ya sure 'bout that? Cause I plan on hanging 'round for a really long time. Can ya put up with me for a really long time?"

"Yes" Beth shouted this time. Rick stood up and Beth jumped into his arms, making sure to wrap her legs around him.


	16. Chapter 16

I do not own any of the TWD characters.

 **Working Them Critters**

Rick and Beth slept in late the next morning – well as late as you could when there was a little puppy begging to be let out. While Rick went out with Levi, Beth smiled to herself and held her hand up in the air so that she could get a good look at her ring. She simply had to call Glen and Maggie's house to let them all know – Beth wondered if any of them would be up at this hour. Glancing over at the alarm clock, she also caught sight of the hour glass that Rick had given her the night before. Before turning in for bed earlier in the morning, Beth had placed the hour glass on the dresser. It was absolutely beautiful and something that she would treasure forever.

Beth heard the back door closing and Rick talking to the puppy – something he tried not to do in front of Beth. He could try and act all tough as much as he wanted to but she knew deep down that Rick Grimes was nothing but a big ole softy. Deciding to finally get up and use the restroom, Beth reluctantly put clothes on and joined Rick in the kitchen. He had coffee going and was pulling the egg carton from the fridge.

"I think you're gettin a little spoiled" Rick surmised. "Can't remember the last time you fixed breakfast."

"That so?" Beth teased. "Well, I'll take two eggs, scrambled please. Little bit of cheddar on top."

"Yes mam" Rick replied with a smirk.

Beth had made it up to him by fixing an amazing lunch. Since it was New Year's Day, she insisted on black eyed peas and greens, pork chops and mashed potatoes, and cornbread. For dessert, they had cheesecake again. Beth had wanted to try her hand at a fruit pie, but realized that would be silly with that huge cake still sitting in the refrigerator.

"Honey" Rick started as he sat back and rubbed his belly. "You are gonna make me fat and I won't be able to pass the physical part of the academy."

"Don't be silly" Beth dismissed him, but she knew that deep down he really was kind of worried about that part of it. He had mentioned more than once that he hoped his age wouldn't work against him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The day Rick had been dreading had finally arrived – Wednesday – the day they were going to "work cattle". He had no idea what the hell time it was, but Beth was already in the bathroom – sounded like she was brushing her teeth. And humming. _Who the fuck is humming about being up this time of morning_ Rick thought to himself. It was still dark out for Pete's sake.

Beth stepped from the bathroom and was pulling her hair up into a high ponytail on top of her head. "Hey" she chirped when she saw that Rick had one eye open and looking at her.

"Hey" Rick managed before turning over to pull all the pillows to him.

"Nuh uh Buddy" she laughed while ripping the covers off of him. "Time to rise and shine" she teased. "We got cows to inoculate and nuts to take off." Rick held himself just a little closer and grimaced when she said the last part.

Reluctantly, Rick got up out of the bed and took a quick shower, hoping that would get him going. Once he was dressed, Rick made his way to the kitchen where coffee and biscuits and gravy, grits, and eggs greeted him.

"Better eat up" Beth warned him. "Be a long time 'fore your next meal." Rick made no comment but sat down to begin sugaring up his coffee.

Thirty minutes later, they've loaded all of the cow working supplies into the back of the farm truck and are pulling up into the barn lot up past her daddy's house. Several other trucks were already there with people standing around, shooting the shit, drinking coffee, and smoking. Rick didn't think many people smoked anymore, but apparently there were a few still around. One fella even had a mountain dew bottle he was using as a spit can. Rick thought he might lose his breakfast but then figured if that was the worst thing that he saw all day, then he'd better appreciate that little tidbit right there.

Beth hopped out of the truck just as soon as it came to a stop and walked around to the other side to wait on Rick to get out of the driver's seat. "Ya don't mind that I left my ring at the house do ya?" she asked him.

"Well, of course not" Rick told her. "I sure don't want ya to lose it or something – why?"

"Oh, I don't know" Beth looked around nervously. "Just kinda wanted people to know my news. Show em I's spoken for."

Rick smiled and pulled her into him for a hug. "We'll just have to show 'em your mine some other way."

Beth smiled back at him and he couldn't resist placing a kiss on her sweet, pouty lips.

"Is there someone here in particular that we're trying to show who you belong to now?" Rick asked.

"No" Beth answered quickly. A little too quickly Rick thought.

"Well, there's our Bethie" a rather round, red faced gentleman shouted out. An attractive and mild mannered lady wearing jeans, boots, and a hoodie walked up behind the man.

"Hey Otis" Beth beamed at the man and then hugged him around the neck. "It's been a while."

"Sure has" Otis agreed. He then looked at Rick, giving him a good once over, before offering a hand. "Good to meet ya. Ya must be Rick" he said. "Hershel told me to be expectin ya to join us. Ya treatin our girl right?"

Rick returned the handshake. "Yes sir" Rick answered. "No other way to treat her." They all laughed and Beth went on to the hug the only other lady there.

"Bethie sweetheart" the lady smiled and hugged Beth. "How are ya sweetie? We've sure missed ya."

Beth took the lady's hand and walked her over to Rick. "Patricia, this is Rick – my fiancé. Rick, this is Patricia, she's been a friend to our family for, well, as long I've been around that's for sure."

"I changed this little girl's diapers – that's how long I've been around" Patricia teased causing Beth to blush a full-fledged purple. Patricia spoke kindly to Rick, but basically she told him that Beth was sure special to everyone around here and that if he didn't treat her well, then, he probably wouldn't live to regret it. Rick swallowed what felt to be a lump of cotton that had swollen up in his throat.

"Yes Mam" Rick told the lady.

"Patricia's here to do all the paperwork, order lunch up for us, call 911 if someone goes down" Beth explained, snickering at the last item.

"Paperwork?" Rick asked while hoping that they didn't have to call 911 for him.

Beth nodded. "Mmmhmm, documenting band numbers as they get shot, keeping track of the cut – that kind of thing. She's always taken care of the paperwork part of it. Daddy wanted me to learn how to do it and I did, but I really enjoy taking a more active roll."

"What's a cut?" asked Rick. Beth was throwing out a lot of terms he wasn't really familiar with, not in this setting anyway.

"The cut" Beth started, "it's the group of cows being separated for market."

Rick nodded and said, "Oh, okay. I gotcha."

After that, Beth simply pointed everyone out and told Rick who each person was. They all seemed to be close family friends or distant relatives and even guys that had been in FFA with Beth back in high school. Rick smiled at the thought of little Beth Greene serving as their school's FFA president.

Apparently, everyone was more than willing to help out with these type chores – the more hands available, the quicker the work went and it was kind of a community event. Beth quickly mentioned the vet's name as she was going over the people there and what they'd be doing. Rick couldn't help but think that the guy looked familiar but he simply could not imagine having seen any of these people before.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun had been up for a while and they'd inoculated nearly the entire herd. So far, it hadn't been that bad. They had two chutes going. Beth and Rick were working one chute while the vet and Chigger worked the other chute. Rick was hopeful that it was just a nickname. Surely someone wouldn't name their child Chigger. Beth had taught Rick how to fill the syringe and she'd "shoot 'em up".

After they'd been inoculated, Otis was bobbing the tails of the cattle that would remain on the farm. The others were the cut. The cut went to a special holding pen to be loaded up early first thing in the morning to make that dreaded journey. Rick kind of felt bad for them and was amazed that Beth didn't bat an eye when Otis would signal that a particular cow was to go to the market pen.

All and all, Rick was pretty impressed with himself so far, and damn impressed with Beth. She didn't shy away from these animals or the stinky mess they seem to leave behind wherever they went. All morning long, the vet had been sending looks over in Beth's direction. At first Rick thought that maybe he wasn't doing something correctly but Beth hadn't said anything. As a matter of fact, Beth had kept telling Rick what a good job he was doing and teasing him that she didn't know she gotten involved with an undercover cowboy. Rick also observed that Beth would absolutely NOT look at the vet – like she was doing everything in her power to ignore the man.

When Beth had been clipped in the chin with a wild hoof, however, she could no longer ignore the guy. He quickly came over to check it out. Beth wasn't fussing about her chin but it was bleeding pretty profusely and already bruising up. Rick had a handkerchief Otis had given him and was trying to appy some pressure to get the bleeding to stop. Rick couldn't help but notice that Beth looked all matter of uncomfortable with all the attention from the vet.

"I said it's fine Jimmy" Beth finally told the guy as she swatted at him to get away from her. The guy had simply been wiping at it with an alcohol wipe and applying some antibiotic.

"God dammit Beth" he'd finally said in exasperation. "You're so fuckin stubborn. You always were."

"Fine" Beth huffed out. "Just hurry up, we still gotta deball all these little ones."

"I don't think ya need stitches" Jimmy said. "Whattya think?" the guy looked at Rick and turned Beth's face toward Rick so that he could look at her chin. Beth squinched her eyes closed.

"Naw, it's not deep at all – cuts to the face and head always bleed like crazy though."

"Yeah" Jimmy agreed. "Alright, Bethie, there ya go." Jimmy had put a band aid over the cut and patted it gingerly. Beth rolled her eyes.

Once Beth and Rick were somewhat alone again, Rick had to ask. "Beth" he said quietly as he watched her grabbing a handful of the little green bands and putting them in her pocket. "Beth" he said again.

"Yeh" Beth responded breathlessly. When she looked up at Rick, his breathe caught at just how damn beautiful she was. This girl of his had mud (possibly cow shit) on her jeans, her eyes were watery and her nose was red from the cold, hair falling out of her pony tail and she had a band aid on her chin – absolutely fuckin beautiful Rick thought. "Who's Jimmy?" he asked what he'd been wanting to know all morning.

Beth smiled at Rick. "Jealous?" she whispered. Rick couldn't believe they were going to have this conversation while he was watching her make sure she had both balls through the elastic band.

"Should I be?" Rick wondered aloud, but in answer to her question he knew the answer was yes.

"He's just a guy" Beth told Rick.

"He's not just a guy Beth " Rick replied. "Is he?"

"Daddy had his heart set on me and Jimmy" Beth admitted. "Daddy always wanted me to marry him – I think he'd been countin on it if ya wanna know the truth 'bout it. Obviously, he's a bit older than me" Rick snorted at that comment – "we dated when he got back from vet school."

Rick was jealous and now he'd realized why this son of a bitch looked familiar. The picture in the family room at Hershel and Annette's – the prom picture.

"God, Rick. I was young. So young" Beth continued. "Jimmy didn't want me to go to college. He just wanted me to marry him and have babies and cook and clean."

Rick smiled. "But you want to marry me?"

"Heck yeh" Beth smiled a goofy grin. "And I wanta have your babies too."

Rick must have had a funny look on his face because Beth began backtracking.

"Oh, we haven't even discussed babies" Beth whispered.

"I think I could be persuaded to give you some babies" Rick whispered back.

Beth giggled and helped the calf up to his feet. Chigger had another one held down for her to start on. "You wanta do this one?" she looked up at Rick.

Rick shook his head no. "Let me watch a few more."

"There was just never any spark there on my part" Beth told Rick. "I tried. I really did. Damn near broke Daddy's heart. It completely broke Jimmy's – I feel really bad."

"If ya didn't love him, ya didn't love him" Rick reasoned. "Nothing to feel bad about on your part."

"Yeh, I know. That's what Momma kept tryin to tell Daddy" Beth relayed. "It was just, well, he graduated with my brother Shawn and had been such a big part of our family and I think it was just comfortable for everybody."

Beth had finished up with this poor little calf, sent it on his way, and had moved on to the next victim. Chigger sure was good at wrestling them little critters down and Beth was even better at her task. "We only got four more to go, so you better be paying attention cause you're gonna do the last two."

Rick felt a little queasy. "Do I have to?" he asked, unsure of himself.

"Yes, you have to" Beth teased. And he did. It took both Beth and Chigger to talk him through it, but he got it done.


End file.
